Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 46
40
Genesis 26
PG 38
DIRECT
PG 38
SCENIC
27:1–28:9
27:1–28:9
15
19
JACOB STEALS ESAU’S BLESSING
Isaac’s twin boys are very different from one another. Esau is a hunter, but Jacob
is a homebody. And while Isaac favors Esau, his wife Rebekah favors Jacob. With
their parents divided like this, rivalry between the siblings is inevitable.
twins! 25 The first one was very red at birth and
covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they
named him Esau.* 26 Then 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
As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful
hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob
had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at
home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed
eating the wild game Esau brought home, but
Rebekah loved Jacob.
29
One day when Jacob was cooking some
stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness
exhausted and hungry. 30 Esau 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?”
33
But 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.
34
Then 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.
27
ISAAC DECEIVES ABIMELECH
26
A severe famine now struck the land,
as had happened before in Abraham’s
time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abime
lech, 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.
Live 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. 4 I 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 I saac
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.” 8 But 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!”
3
CONFLICT OVER WATER RIGHTS
When Isaac planted his crops that year, he
harvested a hundred times more grain than he
planted, for the Lord blessed him. 13 He became
a very rich man, and his wealth continued to
12
25:25 Esau sounds like a Hebrew term that means “hair.”
25:26 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and “deceiver.”
26:3 Hebrew seed; also in 26:4, 24.
