¹ Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

² And the Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do not go down to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you knowledge:

³ Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, giving effect to the oath which I made to your father Abraham;

⁴ I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and will give them all these lands, and your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth;

⁵ Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my orders, and my laws.

⁶ So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

⁷ And when he was questioned by the men of the place about his wife, he said, She is my sister; fearing to say, She is my wife; for, he said, the men of the place may put me to death on account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.

⁸ And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife.

⁹ And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why then did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear that I might be put to death because of her.

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, What have you done to us? one of the people might well have had connection with your wife, and the sin would have been ours.

¹¹ And Abimelech gave orders to his people that anyone touching Isaac or his wife was to be put to death.

¹² Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him.

¹³ And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more;

¹⁴ For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.

¹⁵ Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the Philistines.

¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are stronger than we are.

¹⁷ So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

¹⁸ And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.

¹⁹ Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water.

²⁰ But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a fight about it.

²¹ Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah.

²² Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will have fruit in this land.

²³ And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

²⁴ That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you, blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant Abraham.

²⁵ Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a water-hole.

²⁶ And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol, the captain of his army.

²⁷ And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me away from you?

²⁸ And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make an agreement with you;

²⁹ That you will do us no damage, even as we put no hand on you, and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace: and now the blessing of the Lord is on you.

³⁰ Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

³¹ And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.

³² And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have come to water.

³³ And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that town is Beer-sheba to this day.

³⁴ And when Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

³⁵ And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of mind because of them.

¹ It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?" He said to him, "Here I am."

² He said, "See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my death.

³ Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison.

⁴ Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die."

⁵ Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

⁶ Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,

⁷ 'Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.'

⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.

⁹ Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good young goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves.

¹⁰ You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

¹² What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing."

¹³ His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me."

¹⁴ He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved.

¹⁵ Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.

¹⁶ She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.

¹⁷ She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ He came to his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success."

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

²² Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

²³ He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau's hands. So he blessed him.

²⁴ He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He said, "I am."

²⁵ He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you." He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son."

²⁷ He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.

²⁸ God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

²⁹ Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you."

³⁰ It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me."

³² Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

³³ Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed."

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father."

³⁵ He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."

³⁶ He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?"

³⁸ Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹ Isaac his father answered him, "Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and of the dew of the sky from above.

⁴⁰ By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."

⁴¹ Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."

⁴² The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.

⁴⁴ Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away;

⁴⁵ until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

⁴⁶ 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, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?"