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Esau bread and lentil pottage. And when he had eaten and drunk he arose and went away. Thus did Esau undervalue the rights of primogeniture.

XXVI.

Now there had been a famine in the land besides the former famine which happened in the time of Abraham. And Isaak went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 For the Lord had appeared to him and said, Go not down into 3 Egypt, but dwell in the land which I will tell thee. Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all this land. And I will establish my oath which I sware to thy father Abraham and multiply 4 thy seed like the stars of heaven. And to thy seed I will give 5 all this land; and by thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham thy father hearkened to my voice and kept my ordinances and my commandments and my 6 rules of rectitude and my rites. And while Isaak dwelt at Gerar the men of the place made inquiry respecting his wife 7 Rebekka; and he said, She is my sister, for he was afraid to say, She is my wife, lest peradventure the men of the place should kill 8 him for Rebekka's sake, for she was of a very beautiful countenance. However he continued there a long time; for Abimelech king of the Gerarites happening to look through a window saw 9 Isaak dallying with Rebekka his wife. Whereupon Abimelech called Isaak and said to him certainly she is thy wife. Why then didst thou say, She is my sister? And Isaak said to him, Be10 cause I thought I might perhaps die for her. And Abimelech said to him, Why hast thou dealt thus with us? In a little while some person of my family might have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us through ignorance. 11 Then Abimelech gave a strict charge to all his people saying,

Whoever toucheth this man or his wife shall be liable to death. 12 And Isaak sowed in that land and got that year an hundred 13 fold of barley. And the Lord blessed him and the man was

exalted and prospered more and more till he became exceed14 ing great. And he had flocks and herds of cattle and many 15 fields under cultivation. And the Philistines envied him; and

all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the time of his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled them with 16 earth. And Abimelech said to Isaak, Depart from us, for thou

17 art become far mightier than we. Upon this Isaak departed thence and took up his abode in the valley of Gerar and dwelt 18 there. And Isaak digged again the wells of water, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged and which the Philistines had stopped up, after the death of his father Abraham. And he called them by the same names, by which his father 19 had named them. Isaak's servants also digged in the valley of 20 Gerar, and found there a well of spring water. But the shepherds of the Gerarites contended with Isaak's shepherds, saying the water was theirs. So he called the name of that well In21 justice: because they did him injustice. Then he removed thence and digged another well; and about this also they con22 tended; so he called its name Enmity. And he removed thence and digged another well; and about this they did not contend; So he called the name of it, Room-enough; saying, For now the Lord hath made room for us, though he hath increased us in the land. And he went up thence to Well of the Oath; and the Lord 24 appeared to him that night and said, I am the God of thy father

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Abraham; Fear not; for I am with thee; and I will bless thee 25 and multiply thy seed for the sake of thy father Abraham. So

he built there an altar and invoked the name of the Lord and 26 fixed his tent there. And while the servants of Isaak were digging a well there in the valley of Gerar, Abimelech came to him from Gerar, accompanied with Ochozath his chamberlain 27 and Phichol the general of his army. And Isaak said to them, Why are you come to me, seeing you have hated me and sent 28 me away from you? And they said, We saw plainly that the

Lord is with thee; therefore we said, Let there be an oath be29 tween us and thee; and we will make a covenant with thee that

thou wilt not do us an injury, as we have not hated thee but used thee well and sent thee away in peace, and thou art now 30 blessed of the Lord. Then he made an entertainment for them 31 and they ate and drank. And early next morning they arose and swore one to the other. And Isaak dismissed them and 32 they departed from him in peace. And it happened that on that very day the servants of Isaak came and told him of the well which they had been digging and said, We have found water. 33 So he called it, Oath. For this cause they call the name of the city, Well of Oath, even at this day.

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Now when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beoch the Chettite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Chettite, and they were at strife with Isaak and Rebekka.

XXVII. And after Isaak grew old, when his eyes were so dimmed that he could not see he called Esau his eldest son and said 2 to him. My Son. And he said here I am. And he said, Behold I am grown old and do not know the day of my dissolution; 3 now therefore take thy arms-the quiver and the bow; and go 4 out into the field and hunt game for me and make me savory meat such as I love and bring it to me, that I may eat; that 5 my soul may bless thee before I die. Now Rebekka heard Isaak speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau was gone to 6 the field to hunt game for his father, Rebekka said to Jacob

her younger son. Lo! I heard thy father speaking to thy bro7 ther Esau saying, Bring me game and make me savory meat

that I may eat and bless thee in the presence of the Lord be8 fore I die. Now therefore, my son, hearken to me as I com9 mand thee, and go to the flock and fetch me thence two kids

tender and good, and I will make them savory meat for thy fa10 ther such as he loveth and thou shalt carry it to thy father that 11 he may eat; that thy father may bless thee before he die. And

Jacob said to his mother Rebekka, My brother Esau is a 12 hairy man and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father may feel

me, and I shall be before him as a deceiver, so I shall bring 13 upon myself a curse and not a blessing. And his mother said

to him, Upon me, my son, be thy curse. Only hearken to my 14 voice; and go and bring me them. So he went and took and

brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory meat 15 such as his father loved. And Rebekka took the robe of Esau

her eldest son, the robe of dignity which was with her in the 16 house and put it on her younger son Jacob. And she put the 17 skins of the kids on his arms and the naked parts of his neck; 18 and gave the savory meat and cakes which she had baked, into

the hands of her son Jacob; and he took them to his father and 19 said, Father! And he said, Here I am. Who art thou, my son?

And Jacob said to his father. I am Esau, thy first born. I have 20 done as thou badest me. Arise, sit up, and eat of my game that

thy soul may bless me. And Isaak said to his son, What is this,

21 my son, which thou hast found so quickly? And he said, It is what the Lord thy God presented to my view. And Isaak said to Jacob, Come near my son and let me feel thee, whether thou be 22 my son Esau or not. And Jacob went near to his father Isaak.

And when he had felt him he said, The voice indeed is the voice 23 of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. So he did not

discover him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his 24 brother Esau, when he blessed him. Then he said. Art thou 25 my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to

me and I will eat of thy game, my son, that my soul may bless thee. So he brought it near to him and he ate. And he brought 26 wine and he drank. And Isaak his father said to him, Come 27 near me my son and kiss me. And when he came near and

kissed him; he smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him and said, Behold the fragrance of my son is like the fra28 grance of a full field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore God give thee from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the land plenty of corn and wine. May nations serve thee; and 29 princes bow down to thee. Be thou lord of thy brother. And let the children of thy father pay thee homage. Cursed be he who curseth thee; and let him who blesseth thee be blessed.

30 Now after Isaak had finished blessing his son Jacob, when Jacob had but just withdrawn from the presence of his father 31 Isaak, Esau his brother came from the chace. He also had

made savory meat and he brought it to his father and said to him, Arise my father and eat thy son's venison, that thy soul 32 may bless me. And Isaak his father said to him, Who art 33 thou? And he said I am thy son, thy first born Esau. Then was Isaak absorpt in great amazement and said, Who then is he who hath hunted game and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest and have blessed him, and he 34 will be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father

Isaak he cried with a loud and very bitter cry and said, Bless, 35 I beseech thee, me also, O Father. And he said to him, Thy

brother hath come deceitfully and taken thy blessing. And 36 Esau said, His name is rightly called Jacob; for lo! he hath now supplanted me a second time. He took from me my rights of 37 primogeniture; and now he hath taken my blessing. Then

Esau said to his father, Hast thou not, O father, reserved a blessing for me? And Isaak in reply said to Esau, Seeing I have made him thy lord and made all his brethren his servants and have also supported him with corn and wine, what can I 38 do for thee, my son? And Esau said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, father? Bless, I beseech thee, me also, O father. And Isaak being deeply affected, Esau raised his voice 39 and wept. And Isaak his father answered and said to him, Behold thy dwelling shall border on the fatness of the earth and on the dew of heaven from above. By thy sword thou shalt 40 live and thou shalt serve thy brother. But the time will come when thou mayst shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

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So Esau harboured a rooted hatred against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And in this agitation of his mind Esau said, O! that the days of mourning for my father were come that I may kill my brother 42 Jacob. And when the words of Esau her eldest son were told

to Rebekka she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, 43 Behold thy brother Esau threateneth to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice and arise and flee to Meso44 potamia to my brother Laban at Charran, and dwell with him

for some time till the fury and the anger of thy brother turn 45 away from thee, and until he forget what thou hast done to him, then I will send for thee from that place. Perhaps I may 46 be bereaved of you both in one day. Then Rebekka said to

Isaak, I am weary of my life on account of the daughters of the children of Chet. If Jacob should take a wife of the daughXXVIII. ters of this land what would life be to me? Upon this Isaak called Jacob to him and blessed him and charged him saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of the Cha2 nanites. Arise and go to Mesopotamia and to the house of Bathuel thy mother's father, and take thence a wife for thyself 3 of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. And may my

God bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that 4 thou mayst become a multitude of nations. And may he give thee the blessing of my father Abraham, to thee and thy seed after thee, to inherit this land of thy sojourning, which God 5 gave to Abraham. So Isaak sent away Jacob and he went to Mesopotamia to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian the brother of Rebekka who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

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