Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 57
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to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of
Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward
all their relatives.
The Births of Esau and Jacob
19 This is the account of the family of Isaac, the
son of Abraham. 20When Isaac was forty years
old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister
of Laban the Aramean.
21Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his
wife, because she was unable to have children.
The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah
became pregnant with twins. 22But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So
she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this
happening to me?” she asked.
23And the Lord told her, “The sons in your
womb will become two nations. From the very
beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your
older son will serve your younger son.”
24And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have
twins! 25 The first one was very red at birth and
covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they
named him Esau. 26Then the other twin was
born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they
named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when
the twins were born.
Esau Sells His Birthright
27As
the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful
hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a
quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.
28Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the
wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah
loved Jacob.
29One day when Jacob was cooking some stew,
Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30Esau said to Jacob, “I’m
starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is
how Esau got his other name, Edom, which
means “red.”)
31“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your
rights as the firstborn son.”
32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau.
“What good is my birthright to me now?”
33But Jacob said, “First you must swear that
your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath,
thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to
his brother, Jacob.
34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil
stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He
showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.
CHAPTER
... Genesis 26
26
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved
to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do
not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. 3Live
here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with
you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will
give all these lands to you and your descendants,
just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. 4I will cause your descendants to become
as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will
give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be
blessed. 5 I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements,
commands, decrees, and instructions.” 6 So
Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men who lived there asked Isaac
about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He
thought, “They will kill me to get her, because
she is so beautiful.” 8But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.
9 Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and
exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did
you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me
to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
10 “How could you do this to us?” Abimelech
exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have
taken your wife and slept with her, and you
would have made us guilty of great sin.”
11 Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife
will be put to death!”
Conflict over Water Rights
12 When Isaac planted his crops that year, he har-
vested a hundred times more grain than he
planted, for the Lord blessed him. 13He became
a very rich man, and his wealth continued to
grow. 14He acquired so many flocks of sheep and
goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These
were the wells that had been dug by the servants
of his father, Abraham.
16Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the
country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you
have become too powerful for us.”
17So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley,
