Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 53
27:38–28:9
G enesis
41
that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?”
Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless
me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.
Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him,
“You will live away from the richness of the earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven above.
You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob
the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my
father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.”
But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told
him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. So listen
carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran. Stay
there with him until your brother cools off. When he calms down and
forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why
should I lose both of you in one day?”
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite
women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.”
So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry
any of these Canaanite women. Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the
house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s
daughters. May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And
may your descendants multiply and become many nations! May God pass
on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham.
May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God
gave this land to Abraham.”
So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his
uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.
Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-
a ram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a
Canaanite woman.” He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and
gone to P
addan-aram. It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not
like the local Canaanite women. So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family
and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already
had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and
the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.
