Tanakh - The Holy Scriptures . Various Authors

Isaac his father said unto him: 'Who art thou?' And he said: 'I am thy son, thy first-born, Esau.' ³³And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said: 'Who then is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.' ³⁴When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father: 'Bless me, even me also, O my father.' ³⁵And he said: 'Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.' ³⁶And he said: 'Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.' And he said: 'Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?' ³⁷And Isaac answered and said unto Esau: 'Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him; and what then shall I do for thee, my son?' ³⁸And Esau said unto his father: 'Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father.' And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. ³⁹And Isaac his father answered and said unto him:

      Behold, of the fat places of the earth shall be thy dwelling,And of the dew of heaven from above;⁴⁰And by thy sword shalt thou live,And thou shalt serve thy brother;And it shall come to pass when thou shalt break loose,That thou shalt shake his yoke from off thy neck.

      ⁴¹And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart: 'Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.' ⁴²And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 'Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; ⁴⁴and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; ⁴⁵until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him; then I will send, and fetch thee from thence; why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?'

      ⁴⁶And Rebekah said to Isaac: 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?'

      28And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him: 'Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ²Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. ³And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a congregation of peoples; ⁴and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham.' ⁵And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Paddan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. ⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying: 'Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan'; ⁷and that Jacob hearkened to his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram; ⁸and Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; ⁹so Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

      ויצא

¹⁰And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹And he lighted upon the place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the Lord stood beside him, and said: 'I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. ¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' ¹⁶And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.' ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said: 'How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' ¹⁸And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of that place ²⁹Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: 'If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, ²¹so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, ²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.'

      29Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. ²And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying there by it.—For out of that well they watered the flocks. And the stone upon the well's mouth was great. ³And thither were all the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone back upon the well's mouth in its place.— ⁴And Jacob said unto them: 'My brethren, whence are ye?' And they said: 'Of Haran are we.' ⁵And he said unto them: 'Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?' And they said: 'We know him.' ⁶And he said unto them: 'Is it well with him?' And they said: 'It is well; and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.' ⁷And he said: 'Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together; water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.' ⁸And they said: 'We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.' ⁹While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she tended them. ¹⁰And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. ¹¹And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father. ¹³And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴And Laban said to him: 'Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.' And he abode with him the space of a month. ¹⁵And Laban said unto Jacob: 'Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?' ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷And Leah's eyes were weak; but Rachel was of beautiful form and fair to look upon. ¹⁸And Jacob loved Rachel; and he said: 'I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.' ¹⁹And Laban said: 'It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man; abide with me.' ²⁰And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. ²¹And Jacob said unto Laban: 'Give me my wife, for my days are filled, that I may go in unto her.' ²²And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ²³And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. ²⁴And Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid unto his daughter Leah for a handmaid. ²⁵And it came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah; and he said to Laban: 'What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?' ²⁶And Laban said: 'It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the first-born. ²⁷Fulfil the week of this one, and we will give thee the other also for the service which thou shalt serve with