¹ And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

² And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

³ And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

⁴ And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

⁵ Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

⁶ So Isaac abode in Gerara.

⁷ And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would like him because of her beauty.

⁸ And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.

⁹ And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said: Why hadst thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

¹¹ He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

¹³ And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

¹⁴ And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

¹⁵ Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

¹⁶ Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

¹⁷ So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

¹⁸ And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

¹⁹ And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

²⁰ But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

²¹ And they digged also another; and for that they quarreled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

²² Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

²³ And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

²⁴ Where the Lord appeared to him that same might, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

²⁵ And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

²⁶ To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

²⁷ Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

²⁸ And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

²⁹ That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

³⁰ And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

³¹ Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

³² And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

³³ Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

³⁴ And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

³⁵ And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

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?"