Study Desk

The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban,^(o) and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.

As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he had heard his sister Rebekah's words—"The man said this to me!"—he went to the man. He was standing there by the camels at the spring.

Laban said, "Come, you who are blessed by the Lord .^(p) Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded.^(q) Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was brought to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him.

A meal was set before him, but he said, "I will not eat until I have said what I have to say." So Laban said, "Please speak."

"I am Abraham's servant," he said.

"The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master in her^[c] old age,^(r) and he has given him everything he owns.^(s)

My master put me under this oath: ‘You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live

but will go to my father's household and to my family to take a wife for my son.'

But I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman will not come back with me?'

He said to me, ‘The Lord before whom I have walked^(t) will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's household.

Then you will be free from my oath if you go to my family and they do not give her to you—you will be free from my oath.'

"Today when I came to the spring, I prayed: Lord , God of my master Abraham, if only You will make my journey successful!

I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug,

and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels also'—let her be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master's son.

"Before I had finished praying silently,^(u) there was Rebekah coming with her jug on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her: Please let me have a drink.

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I'll water your camels also.' So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

Then I asked her: Whose daughter are you? She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose^(v) and the bracelets on her wrists.

Then I bowed down, worshiped the Lord , and praised the Lord , the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

Now, if you are going to show kindness and faithfulness to my master,^(w) tell me; if not, tell me, and I will go elsewhere."^[d]

Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the Lord ; we have no choice in the matter.^[e](x)

Rebekah is here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her be a wife for your master's son, just as the Lord has spoken."

When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the Lord .

Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.

Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, "Send me to my master."

But her brother and mother said, "Let the girl stay with us for about 10 days.^[f] Then she^[g] can go."

But he responded to them, "Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master."

So they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her opinion."^[h]

They called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She replied, "I will go."

So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her,^[i](y) and Abraham's servant and his men.

They blessed Rebekah, saying to her: Our sister, may you become thousands upon ten thousands.^(z) May your offspring possess the gates of their^[j] enemies.^(aa)

Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi,^[k](ab) for he was living in the Negev region.

In the early evening Isaac went out to walk^[l] in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming.

Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel

and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" The servant answered, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself.

Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother's death.^(ac)

Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah,^(a)

and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

And Midian's sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.

Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac.^(b)

And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.^(c)

This is the length of Abraham's life:^[a] 175 years.

He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age,^(d) old and contented,^[b] and he was gathered to his people.^(e)

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah^(f) near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites.^(g) Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.^(h)

These are the family records⁽ⁱ⁾ of Abraham's son Ishmael,^(j) whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave, bore to Abraham.

These are the names of Ishmael's sons; their names according to the family records are: Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

These are Ishmael's sons, and these are their names by their villages and encampments: 12 leaders^[c](k) of their clans.^[d]

This is the length^[e] of Ishmael's life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people.

And they^[f] settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He^[g] lived in opposition to^[h] all his brothers.^(l)

These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.^(m)

Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah⁽ⁿ⁾ daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram^(o) and sister of Laban the Aramean.^(p)

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.^(q) The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^(r)

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?"^[i] So she went to inquire of the Lord .^(s)

And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two people will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other,^(t) and the older will serve the younger.^(u)

When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

The first one came out red-looking,^[j] covered with hair^[k] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.^(v)

After this, his brother came out grasping Esau's heel with his hand.^(w) So he was named Jacob.^[l](x) Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman,^[m] but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.^[n]

Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.^(y)

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

He said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I'm exhausted." That is why he was also named Edom.^[o]

Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."

"Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?"

Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.

Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.^(z)

There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham's time.^(a) And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.^(b)

The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about;

stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you.^(c) For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring,^(d) and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.^(e)

I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed^[a] by your offspring,^(f)

because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions."^(g)

So Isaac settled in Gerar.

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister,"^(h) for he was afraid to say "my wife," thinking,⁽ⁱ⁾ "The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman."^(j)

When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see^[b] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might die on account of her."

Then Abimelech said, "What is this you've done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us."^(k)

So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: "Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die."

Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped^[c] a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him,^(l)

and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy.

He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.

The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father's slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham,^(m) filling them with dirt.

And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us."^[d]

So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there.

Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

Then Isaac's slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring^[e] water there.

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Quarrel^[f] because they quarreled with him.⁽ⁿ⁾

Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility.^[g]

He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces^[h] and said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

From there he went up to Beer-sheba,

and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham.^(o) Do not be afraid, for I am with you.^(p) I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham."

So he built an altar there,^(q) called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac's slaves also dug a well there.^(r)

Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.^(s)

Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you."

They replied, "We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you:

You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord ."^(t)

So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank.

They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other.^[i](u) Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

On that same day Isaac's slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, "We have found water!"^(v)

He called it Sheba.^[j] Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba^[k](w) to this day.

When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.^(x)

They made life bitter^[l] for Isaac and Rebekah.^(y)