the other took hold of with his hand, and therefore called Jacob. Isaac was now sixty years old. 27. The boys grew, and Esau became an expert hunter in the forests, but Jacob was quiet, and lived at home. 28. And Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29. One day, as Jacob boiled pottage, Esau came from the field, and being faintish, 30. He said to Jacob, Give me, I pray thee, some of that red pottage, for I am faintish; hence also his name was called Edom, red. 31. Then Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birth-right. 32. And Esau said, Lo, I am about to die, and what shall the birth-right avail me? 33. Then Jacob said, Swear to me this day; so he swore to him, and sold him his birthright. 34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and boiled lentiles, and he ate and drank, and rose and departed. Thus Esau undervalued his birth-right.

CHAP. XXVI.

ISAAC'S SOJOURNING IN PALESTINE.

THERE was a famine in the land, besides the former famine in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, the place of Abimelech, king of the Philistines. 2. For the Eternal had appeared to him, and said, Go not down to Egypt, but dwell in this land as a sojourner; 3. And I will be with thee and bless thee; for to thee I will give all these lands. I will perform the oath which I sware to thy father Abraham; 4. And I will make thy seed numerous as the stars of heaven, and in thy seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5. For Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my com mands, ordinances, and laws. 6, 7. Now Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And when the men of the place asked him concerning his wife, he said, She is my sister; for he feared to tell she was his wife, lest they should kill him on her account, because she

G

was fair. 8. But having been there a long time, Abimelech looking out of a window saw him sporting with his wife; 9. Then he called him, and said, Surely this is thy wife; why saidst thou she is my sister? Then Isaac answered, Lest I be put to death for her sake. 10. Then Abimelech said, Why hast thou exposed us to the danger of so great an evil? one of the people might have lightly tampered with thy wife, and thou mightest have brought great guilt upon us. 11. Then Abimelech charg ed all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, or his wife, shall surely be put to death.

12. Isaac sowed in that land, and received a hundred fold of increase, for the Eternal blessed him; 13. And he became great, and still prospered, till he was very great: 14. For he had possessions of flocks, herds, and many servants; and the Philistines envied him. 15. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged during his life, the Philistines had filled up with earth after his death. 16. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, depart from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17. So Isaac removed from thence, and having pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, he dwelt therein. 18. Then Isaac digged again his father's wells, and gave them the same names. 19. His servants digged also in the valley, and found there a well of spring water. 20. But the shepherds of Gerar contended with Isaac's, saying, The water is ours. So he called the well's name Contention. 21. They also digged another well, and strove for that also; and he called its name Hatred. 22. Now he removed from thence, and digged another well, for which they strove not; so he called it Rehoboth (room); for now, said he, the Eternal hath made room for us, and we shall increase in the land. 23. But he removed also from thence to Beershebah; 24. Where the Eternal appeared to him, and said, I am Abraham thy father's God, fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee;

and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. 25. Then he builded an altar there, and worshipped the Eternal; and pitched his tent there, and his servants digged a well there. 26. Then Abimelech went from Gerar to him, with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the chief captain of his army. 27. Now Isaac said to them, Why come ye to me, as ye hate me, and sent me away from you? 28. But they replied, We saw certainly that the Eternal was with thee: 29. And we said, Let us make a covenant with thee, confirmed by an oath, that thou shalt not hurt us, as we have done thee nothing but good, having sent thee away in peace: thou art now blessed of the Eternal. 30. Then he made a feast, and they ate and drank; 31. And rose early, and swore to one another: then Isaac dismissed them in peace. 32. On the same day, Isaac's servants came and told him of a well which they digged, saying, We found water. 33. So he called it Sheba, (plenty); therefore the city's name is Beersheba still, (i. e. the well of the oath, or of plenty).

34. Now Esau being forty years old married Judith, Beri the Hittite's daughter; and Bashemath, Elon the Hittite's daughter. 35. Which were a cause of grief to his father and mother.

CHAP. XXVII.

ISAAC DECEIVED BY JACOB, GIVES HIM THE BLESSING INSTEAD OF ESAU.

ISAAC being old, and his eyes dim, he said to Esau, his oldest son, 2. I am old, and must soon die, 3. Go with thy quiver and bow, to the field, and get me venison, make savoury meat to my taste, 4. And I will bless thee before I die. 5. So Esau went to the field to seek venison, and bring it: then his mother having heard, 6, 7. Told Jacob, that his father was about to pray for the blessing of God on Esau; 8. Then she said, My son, hearken to me,

and obey my command. 9. Go now to the flocks, and bring me two tender good kids, and I will make of them savoury meat to thy father's taste; 10. And give it to him, that he may eat, and bless thee before he die. 11. But Jacob said to his mother, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man; 12. Perhaps my father will feel me, and take me for a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse, and not a blessing, upon me. 13, But his mother said, Upon me let the consequences come, my son, only o bey my voice, and go bring them. 14. So he went and brought them to his mother; and she made meat to his father's taste; 15. And put on Jacob the best of Esau's raiment; 16, And put the skins of the kids on his hands, and the smooth of his neck; 17. And put the savoury meat and the bread into his hand. 18. Then he came to Isaac, and said, My father, Isaac said, Who art thou? 19. Then he said, I am Esau, thine oldest son; I have done what thou desirest; rise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me, 20. Then Isaac said, How hast thou found it so quickly, my son? he replied, Because the Eternal, thy God, brought it before me. 21. Then Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, that I may feel thee, whether thou be my very son Esau, or not. 22. So Jacob went near his father, who felt him; and said, The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's. 23. Thus he discovered him not, because his hands were hairy like Esau's. So he blessed him, and said, Art thou my very son Esau? 24. He replied, Yea. 25. Then he said, Bring thy venison to me, that I may eat it, and bless thee; so he brought it to him, and wine, and he ate, and drank. 26. And said to him, Come near, and kiss me, my son. 27. So he came near, and kissed him: and smelled the odour of his raiment, and The smell of it is like that of a field which the Eternal hath blessed. 28, Thẹ Eternal shall give thee the dew of heaven, and the

blessed him; and said,

fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn, wine, and oil. 29. People shall be subject to thee; nations shall bow themselves to thee; thy seed shall be lords over their kindred; and thy mother's progeny shall bow to thine: every one that curseth thee shall be accursed; and he that blesseth thee shall be blessed. 30. When Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, he being scarcely gone out from his father, 31. Esau came with savoury meat, which he had made for his father; and said to him, Let my father arise, and eat of my venison, and bless me. 32. Then Isaac said to him, Who art thou? and he replied, I am thy eldest son Esau. 33. Now Isaac, with great astonishment, said, What is he that brought me the venison which I ate before thou camest, and blessed him; and he shall be blessed. 34. Now when Esau heard his father's words, he uttered a great and bitter cry, saying, Bless me also, O my father. 35. But he said, Thy brother came subtilely and got thy blessing. 36. Then he said, He is rightly named Jacob, for he hath supplanted me two times; he took away my birth-right, and now he hath taken away my blessing: he said moreover, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? 37. Then Isaac said to Esau, I have made him thy superior, and all his kindred I have made subordinate to him; and with corn, wine, and oil, have I sustained him; and what shall I do now for thee, my son? 38. Then Esau said, Hast thou but one blessing? bless me, also, O my father; and he wept aloud. 39. Then his father said to him, In thy habitation thou shalt not have the fatness of the land (of Canaan), and its dew from heaven a bove; 40. But in thy desart, (Mount Seir), thou shalt live, and be subject to thy brother (as in David); but when he shall transgress thou shalt break off his yoke from thy neck, and have the dominion, (as in Herod).