21 January - Genesis 27-29

Jude Sat Aug 18, 2018 4:39 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

GENESIS 27

1And it came to be, when Yitsḥaq was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Ěsaw his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

2And he said, “See now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death.

3“Now then, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt wild game for me.

4“And make me a tasty dish, such as I love, and bring it to me to eat, in order that my being does bless you before I die.”

5And Riḇqah heard when Yitsḥaq spoke to Ěsaw his son. And Ěsaw went to the field to hunt wild game and to bring it.

6And Riḇqah spoke to Ya‛aqoḇ her son, saying, “See, I heard your father speak to Ěsaw your brother, saying,

7‘Bring me wild game and make me a tasty dish to eat, and bless you in the presence of יהוה before my death.’

8“And now my son, listen to my voice according to what I command you.

9“Please go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I make a tasty dish from them for your father, such as he loves.

10“And you shall take it to your father, and he shall eat it, so that he might bless you before his death.”

11And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Riḇqah his mother, “See, Ěsaw my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

12“What if my father touches me? Then I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes, and shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

13But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

14And he went and fetched them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, such as his father loved.

15And Riḇqah took the best garments of her elder son Ěsaw, which were with her in the house, and put them on Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son.

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

17Then she gave the tasty dish and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Ya‛aqoḇ.

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

19And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his father, “I am Ěsaw your first-born, I have done as you said to me. Please rise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

20But Yitsḥaq said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because יהוה your Elohim brought it to me.”

21Then Yitsḥaq said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Please come near, so that I feel you, my son, whether you truly are my son Ěsaw or not.”

22And Ya‛aqoḇ went near to Yitsḥaq his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Ya‛aqoḇ, but the hands are the hands of Ěsaw.”

23And he did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Ěsaw’s hands, and he blessed him.

24And he said, “Are you truly my son Ěsaw?” And he said, “I am.”

25And he said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of my son’s wild game, so that my being might bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate. And he brought him wine, and he drank.

26And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

27And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which יהוה has blessed.

28And Elohim give you of the dew of the heavens, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you!”

30And it came to be, as soon as Yitsḥaq had finished blessing Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ had hardly left the presence of Yitsḥaq his father, that Ěsaw his brother came in from his hunting.

31And he too had made a tasty dish and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

32And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Ěsaw.”

33Then Yitsḥaq trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who was it then who hunted wild game and brought it to me? And I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yea, he is blessed.”

34When Ěsaw heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, O my father!”

35And he said, “Your brother came with deceit and took your blessing.”

36And Ěsaw said, “Was his name, then, called Ya‛aqoḇ? For he has caught me by the heel these two times. He took my birthright, and see, now he has taken my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37Then Yitsḥaq answered and said to Ěsaw, “See, I have made him your master, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants. And I have sustained him with grain and wine. And what, then, shall I do for you, my son?”

38And Ěsaw said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me too, O my father!” And Ěsaw lifted up his voice and wept.

39And Yitsḥaq his father answered and said to him, “See, your dwelling is of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the heavens from above.

40And by your sword you are to live, and serve your brother. And it shall be, when you grow restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

41And Ěsaw hated Ya‛aqoḇ because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Ěsaw said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near, then I am going to kill my brother Ya‛aqoḇ.”

42And the words of Ěsaw her older son were reported to Riḇqah, and she sent and called Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son, and said to him, “See, your brother Ěsaw comforts himself concerning you, to kill you.

43“And now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee to my brother Laḇan in Ḥaran.

44“And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away,

45until your brother’s displeasure turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. And I shall send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46And Riḇqah said to Yitsḥaq, “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Ḥĕth. If Ya‛aqoḇ takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥĕth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what is my life to me?”

GENESIS 28

1And Yitsḥaq called Ya‛aqoḇ and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an.

2“Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethu’ĕl your mother’s father. And take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laḇan your mother’s brother.

3“And Ěl Shaddai bless you, and make you bear fruit and increase you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples,

4and give you the blessing of Aḇraham, to you and your seed with you, so that you inherit the land of your sojournings, which Elohim gave to Aḇraham.”

5So Yitsḥaq sent Ya‛aqoḇ away, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laḇan son of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean, the brother of Riḇqah, the mother of Ya‛aqoḇ and Ěsaw.

6And Ěsaw saw that Yitsḥaq had blessed Ya‛aqoḇ and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an,”

7and that Ya‛aqoḇ had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

8So Ěsaw saw that the daughters of Kena‛an did not please his father Yitsḥaq,

9and Ěsaw went to Yishma‛ĕl and took Maḥalath the daughter of Yishma‛ĕl, Aḇraham’s son, the sister of Neḇayoth, to be his wife, besides the wives he had.

10And Ya‛aqoḇ went out from Be’ĕrsheḇa and went toward Ḥaran.

11And he came upon a place and stopped over for the night, for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

12And he dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it.

13And see, יהוה stood above it and said, “I am יהוה Elohim of Aḇraham your father and the Elohim of Yitsḥaq. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you and your seed.

14“And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall break forth to the west and to the east, to the north and the south. And all the clans of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your seed.

15“And see, I am with you and shall guard you wherever you go, and shall bring you back to this land. For I am not going to leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

16And Ya‛aqoḇ awoke from his sleep and said, “Truly, יהוה is in this place, and I did not know it.”

17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of the heavens!”

18And Ya‛aqoḇ rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a standing column, and poured oil on top of it.

19And he called the name of that place Bĕyth Ěl, however, the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20And Ya‛aqoḇ made a vow, saying, “Seeing Elohim is with me, and has kept me in this way that I am going, and has given me bread to eat and a garment to put on –

21when I have returned to my father’s house in peace, and יהוה has been my Elohim,

22then this stone which I have set as a standing column shall be Elohim’s house, and of all that You give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to You.”

GENESIS 29

1And Ya‛aqoḇ moved on and came to the land of the people of the East.

2And he looked and saw a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well they watered the flocks, and a large stone was on the well’s mouth.

3And all the flocks would be gathered there, then they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

4So Ya‛aqoḇ said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Ḥaran.”

5And he said to them, “Do you know Laḇan son of Naḥor?” And they said, “We know him.”

6So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “Well. And see, his daughter Raḥĕl is coming with the sheep.”

7And he said, “See, it is still high day, not the time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

8But they said, “We are not allowed until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, then we shall water the sheep.”

9While he was still speaking with them, Raḥĕl came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

10And it came to be, when Ya‛aqoḇ saw Raḥĕl the daughter of Laḇan his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laḇan his mother’s brother, that Ya‛aqoḇ went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laḇan his mother’s brother.

11And Ya‛aqoḇ kissed Raḥĕl, and lifted up his voice and wept.

12And when Ya‛aqoḇ told Raḥĕl that he was her father’s relative and that he was Riḇqah’s son, she ran and told her father.

13And it came to be, when Laḇan heard the report about Ya‛aqoḇ his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laḇan all these matters.

14And Laḇan said to him, “You are indeed my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

15Then Laḇan said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for naught? Let me know, what should your wages be?”

16And Laḇan had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lĕ’ah, and the name of the younger was Raḥĕl.

17And Lĕ’ah’s eyes were weak, but Raḥĕl was lovely of form and appearance.

18And Ya‛aqoḇ loved Raḥĕl, so he said, “Let me serve you seven years for Raḥĕl your younger daughter.”

19And Laḇan said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

20So Ya‛aqoḇ served seven years for Raḥĕl, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

21Then Ya‛aqoḇ said to Laḇan, “Give me my wife, for my days are completed, and let me go in to her.”

22And Laḇan gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

23And it came to be in the evening, that he took Lĕ’ah his daughter and brought her to Ya‛aqoḇ. And he went in to her.

24And Laḇan gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Lĕ’ah as a female servant.

25And in the morning it came to be, that see, it was Lĕ’ah. So he said to Laḇan, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Raḥĕl that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”

26And Laḇan said, “It is not done this way in our place, to give the younger before the first-born.

27“Complete the week of this one, then we give you this one too, for the service which you shall serve with me still another seven years.”

28And Ya‛aqoḇ did so and completed her week. Then he gave him his daughter Raḥĕl too, as wife.

29And Laḇan gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Raḥĕl as a female servant.

30And he also went in to Raḥĕl, and he also loved Raḥĕl more than Lĕ’ah. And he served with Laḇan still another seven years.

31And יהוה saw that Lĕ’ah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Raḥĕl was barren.

32And Lĕ’ah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Re’uḇĕn, for she said, “For יהוה has looked on my affliction, because now my husband is going to love me.”

33And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because יהוה has heard that I am unloved, He gave me this son too.” And she called his name Shim‛on.

34And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband is joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So his name was called Lĕwi.

35And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I praise יהוה.” So she called his name Yehuḏah. And she ceased bearing.