Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.

²But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

⁴Now the word of the LORD came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

⁶Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷He also said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

⁸But he said, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

¹¹Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.

¹⁴However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.

¹⁵But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.

¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the Brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River:

¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

²⁰Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim,

²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

¹Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.

²Sarai said to Abram, “Since the LORD has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

³So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years.

⁴He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the LORD judge between me and you.”

⁶Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

⁷The angel of the LORD found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

⁸He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The angel of the LORD said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.”

¹⁰The angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹The angel of the LORD said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

¹²This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”

¹³So she named the LORD who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”

¹⁴That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael.

¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.

²I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

³Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him:

⁴“As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations.

⁵Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.

⁶I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you.

⁷I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.

⁸And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing — all the land of Canaan — as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant.

¹⁰This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised.

¹¹You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.

¹²Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old — every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring.

¹³Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant.

¹⁴If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.

¹⁶I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”

¹⁸So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”

¹⁹But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.

²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

²¹But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

²²When he finished talking with him, God withdrew from Abraham.

²³So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased — every male among the members of Abraham’s household — and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him.

²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,

²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised.

²⁶On that same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.

²⁷And all the men of his household — whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner — were circumcised with him.

¹The LORD appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

²He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground,

³and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant.

⁴Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.” “Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.”

⁷Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

⁸Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

⁹“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰The LORD said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

¹¹Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹²So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

¹³But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’

¹⁴Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

¹⁵Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

¹⁶The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

¹⁷Then the LORD said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?

¹⁸Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

¹⁹For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just. This is how the LORD will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.”

²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.

²¹I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.”

²²The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

²³Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it?

²⁵You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?”

²⁶The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord — even though I am dust and ashes —

²⁸suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.”

³⁰Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.”

³²Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.”

³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

¹The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in Sodom’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground

²and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.” “No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”

³But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

⁴Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house.

⁵They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

⁶Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him.

⁷He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers.

⁸Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t been intimate with a man. I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.”

⁹“Get out of the way!” they said, adding, “This one came here as an alien, but he’s acting like a judge! Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door.

¹⁰But the angels reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

¹¹They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with blindness so that they were unable to find the entrance.

¹²Then the angels said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place,

¹³for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the LORD, that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶But he hesitated. Because of the LORD’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. They brought him out and left him outside the city.

¹⁷As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸But Lot said to them, “No, my lords  — please.

¹⁹Your servant has indeed found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

²⁰Look, this town is close enough for me to flee to. It is a small place. Please let me run to it — it’s only a small place, isn’t it? — so that I can survive.”

²¹And he said to him, “All right, I’ll grant your request about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned.

²²Hurry up! Run to it, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.

²³The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar.

²⁴Then out of the sky the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the LORD.

²⁵He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground.

²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

³⁰Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave.

³¹Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land.

³²Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.”

³³So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”

³⁵That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

³⁷The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.

³⁸The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

¹From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,

²Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

³But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

⁴Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

⁵Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her.

⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally told them all these things, and the men were terrified.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”

¹⁰Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?”

¹¹Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’

¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

¹³So when God had me wander from my father’s house, I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me: ‘He’s my brother.’”

¹⁴Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him.

¹⁵Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you want.”

¹⁶And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children,

¹⁸for the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

¹The LORD came to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.

²Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.

³Abraham named his son who was born to him — the one Sarah bore to him — Isaac.

⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

⁷She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”

⁸The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

⁹But Sarah saw the son mocking — the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham.

¹⁰So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!”

¹¹This was very distressing to Abraham because of his son.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac,

¹³and I will also make a nation of the slave’s son because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes

¹⁶and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly.

¹⁷God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is.

¹⁸Get up, help the boy up, and grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

²¹He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.

²³Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a resident alien.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this thing. You didn’t report anything to me, so I hadn’t heard about it until today.”

²⁷Abraham took flocks and herds and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.

²⁸Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock.

²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “Why have you separated these seven ewe lambs?”

³⁰He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from me so that this act will serve as my witness that I dug this well.”

³¹Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

³²After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

³⁴And Abraham lived as an alien in the land of the Philistines for many days.

¹After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.

²“Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

³So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

⁷Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.” And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

¹⁰Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.”

¹²Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

¹³Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

¹⁴And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven

¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the LORD’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

¹⁷I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.

¹⁸And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

¹⁹Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

²⁰Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor:

²¹Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram,

²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”

²³And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

¹Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life.

²Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron ) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hethites:

⁴“I am an alien residing among you. Give me burial property among you so that I can bury my dead.”

⁵The Hethites replied to Abraham,

⁶“Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”

⁷Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hethites, the people of the land.

⁸He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf

⁹to give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence, for the full price, as burial property.”

¹⁰Ephron was sitting among the Hethites. So in the hearing of all the Hethites who came to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hethite answered Abraham:

¹¹“No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the sight of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹²Abraham bowed down to the people of the land

¹³and said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “Listen to me, if you please. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham and said to him,

¹⁵“My lord, listen to me. Land worth four hundred shekels of silver  — what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the hearing of the Hethites: four hundred standard shekels of silver.

¹⁷So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre — the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field — became

¹⁸Abraham’s possession in the sight of all the Hethites who came to the gate of his city.

¹⁹After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The field with its cave passed from the Hethites to Abraham as burial property.

¹Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the LORD had blessed him in everything.

²Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,

³and I will have you swear by the LORD, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,

⁴but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?”

⁶Abraham answered him, “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there.

⁷The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your offspring’  — he will send his angel before you, and you can take a wife for my son from there.

⁸If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don’t let my son go back there.”

⁹So the servant placed his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and with all kinds of his master’s goods in hand, he went to Aram-naharaim, to Nahor’s town.

¹¹At evening, the time when women went out to draw water, he made the camels kneel beside a well outside the town.

¹²“LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³I am standing here at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’ — let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah — daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor — coming with a jug on her shoulder.

¹⁶Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin — no man had been intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up.

¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.”

¹⁸She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink.

¹⁹When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.”

²⁰She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels

²¹while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.

²²As the camels finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing ten shekels of gold.

²³“Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

²⁵She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.”

²⁶Then the man knelt low, worshiped the LORD,

²⁷and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the spring.

³⁰As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he had heard his sister Rebekah’s words — “The man said this to me!” — he went to the man. He was standing there by the camels at the spring.

³¹Laban said, “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD. Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³²So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was brought to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him.

³³A meal was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”

³⁴“I am Abraham’s servant,” he said.

³⁵“The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

³⁶Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.

³⁷My master put me under this oath: ‘You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live

³⁸but will go to my father’s family and to my clan to take a wife for my son.’

³⁹But I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman will not come back with me?’

⁴⁰He said to me, ‘The LORD before whom I have walked will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s family.

⁴¹Then you will be free from my oath if you go to my family and they do not give her to you — you will be free from my oath.’

⁴²“Today when I came to the spring, I prayed: LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only you will make my journey successful!

⁴³I am standing here at a spring. Let the young woman who comes out to draw water, and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jug,’

⁴⁴and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels also’ — let her be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.

⁴⁵“Before I had finished praying silently, there was Rebekah coming with her jug on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please let me have a drink.’

⁴⁶She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

⁴⁷Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you? ’ She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

⁴⁸Then I knelt low, worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.

⁴⁹Now, if you are going to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; if not, tell me, and I will go elsewhere.”

⁵⁰Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.

⁵¹Rebekah is here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her be a wife for your master’s son, just as the LORD has spoken.”

⁵²When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the LORD.

⁵³Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.

⁵⁴Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.”

⁵⁵But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days. Then she can go.”

⁵⁶But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷So they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her opinion.”

⁵⁸They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She replied, “I will go.”

⁵⁹So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah, saying to her: Our sister, may you become thousands upon ten thousands. May your offspring possess the city gates of their enemies.

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶²Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region.

⁶³In the early evening Isaac went out to walk in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming.

⁶⁴Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel

⁶⁵and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death.

¹Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah,

²and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

⁴And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.

⁵Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac.

⁶But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, and while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.

⁷This is the length of Abraham’s life: 175 years.

⁸He took his last breath and died at a good old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people.

⁹His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hethite.

¹⁰This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hethites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

¹¹After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

¹²These are the family records of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.

¹³These are the names of Ishmael’s sons; their names according to the family records are Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶These are Ishmael’s sons, and these are their names by their settlements and encampments: twelve leaders of their clans.

¹⁷This is the length of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people.

¹⁸And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He stayed near all his relatives.

¹⁹These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.

²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

²¹Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The LORD was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

²²But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

²³And the LORD said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

²⁵The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.

²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

²⁸Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.

³¹Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

³²“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

³³Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.

³⁴Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

¹There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

²The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about;

³stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

⁴I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring,

⁵because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.”

⁶So Isaac settled in Gerar.

⁷When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”

⁸When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

¹⁰Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”

¹¹So Abimelech warned all the people, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

¹²Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The LORD blessed him,

¹³and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy.

¹⁴He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him.

¹⁵Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with dirt.

¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.”

¹⁷So Isaac left there, camped in the Gerar Valley, and lived there.

¹⁸Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

¹⁹Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of spring water there.

²⁰But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek because they argued with him.

²¹Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Sitnah.

²²He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “For now the LORD has made space for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³From there he went up to Beer-sheba,

²⁴and the LORD appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

²⁵So he built an altar there, called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s servants also dug a well there.

²⁶Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

²⁷Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”

²⁸They replied, “We have clearly seen how the LORD has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties — between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you:

²⁹You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the LORD.”

³⁰So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank.

³¹They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

³²On that same day Isaac’s servants came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!”

³³He called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is still Beer-sheba today.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hethite.

³⁵They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

¹When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he answered, “Here I am.”

²He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.

³So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.

⁴Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in,

⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said,

⁷‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’

⁸Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you.

⁹Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father — the kind he loves.

¹⁰Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”

¹¹Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.

¹²Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

¹³His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.

¹⁵Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them.

¹⁶She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

¹⁷Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

¹⁸When he came to his father, he said, “My father.” And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” He replied, “Because the LORD your God made it happen for me.”

²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”

²²So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

²³He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

²⁴Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”

²⁵Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

²⁸May God give to you — from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land  — an abundance of grain and new wine.

²⁹May peoples serve you and nations bow in worship to you. Be master over your relatives; may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed.

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting.

³¹He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

³²But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

³³Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

³⁴When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”

³⁵But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

³⁹His father Isaac answered him, Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above.

⁴⁰You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck.

⁴¹Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

⁴³So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

⁴⁴and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides —

⁴⁵until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”

¹So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.

²Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples.

⁴May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

⁵So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.”

⁷And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram.

⁸Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,

⁹so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

¹¹He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place.

¹²And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.

¹³The LORD was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.

¹⁴Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

¹⁵Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

¹⁷He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it

¹⁹and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz.

²⁰Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear,

²¹and if I return safely to my father’s family, then the LORD will be my God.

²²This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.”