"*** Genesis 17 ***"
"Isaac fathers twin sons Jacob (later renamed Israel) and Esau. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. When he was 60 years old he prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, for she was barren. The Lord answered the prayer of Isaac and Rebekah conceived. Twin babies jostled each other within her womb. She said,What is happening to me? and inquired of the Lord. The Lord said to her, Two nations are within your womb. One will be stronger than the other. The elder will serve the younger. When Rebekah gave birth, the first boy to come out was red skinned and hairy, so they named him Esau. When his brother came out, his hand was grasping Esaus heel, so he was named Jacob."
"Esau a hunter but Jacob aquiet, stay-at-home man. The twin boys grew up. Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed among the tents. Isaac favours Esau and Rebekah favours Jacob. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game favoured Esau, but his wife Rebekah favoured Jacob. Esau sells Jacob his birthright. One day Jacob was cooking lentil stew,when Esau came in from the open country famished. He said to Jacob,Give me some ofthat red stew, I am starving. Jacob replied,First give me your birth-right. Esau said,I am about to die of hunger. What good is my birthright to me? Jacob said,Swear to me first."
"So Esau swore an oath to him, then Jacob gave him some of the lentil stew and some bread. Esau therefore cared little for his birthright. The Lord reaffirms his covenant with Isaac. There arose a famine in the land and the Lord appeared to Isaac and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Remain in this land for a time. I shall be with you and will bless you, for I am giving you and your descendants all of this land to fulfil the oath I swore to your father Abraham to make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens. By your descendants all nations on earth shall be blessed for Abraham obeyed meand kept my commandments." 
"Isaac goes to live among the Philistines and pretends his wife Rebekah is his sister. So Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar and stayed there. When the men of that place asked him about Rebekah, he feared and said,She is my sister, for he thought,The men of this place may kill me to obtain her, for she is a beautiful woman. King Abimelech rebukes Isaac for deception. When Isaac had been there a long time,Abimelech looked down from a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah. He summoned Isaac and said to him,She is your wife. Why then did you say she was your sister? One of the men may have lain with her and you would have brought guilt upon us."
"So the king announced to the people,Anyone who touches this man or his wife shall be put to death. Isaac becomes wealthy and arouses the Philistines envy. Isaac planted crops in that land and reaped a hundred fold, for the Lord blessed him. His wealth continued to grow. Soon he had so many flocks, herds, and servants that the Philistines envied him, and filled up his wells with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac,Move away from us, you have become too powerful. Quarrels over water. Isaac moved a little way off to the valley of Gerar. There his servants dug and found water. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with the herdsmen of Isaac and said,The water is ours."
"So Isaacs servants dug another well andthey quarrelled over that one also. So he moved on from there and dug a third well. This time no one quarrelled over it. Isaac said,Now Jehovah has given us room. We will flourish in the land.Isaac moves to Beersheba. From there Isaac went to Beersheba, and the Lord appeared to him again. So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord. Abimelech makes a peace treaty with Isaac. Then King Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his officials. Isaac said to them,Why have you come? You were hostile to me and sent me away. They answered,We see clearly now that Jehovah is with you, so we said,There oughtto be a treaty between us."
"Therefore let us make a treaty that you will do us no harm, just as we did you no harm. So Isaac made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Early the next morning they swore an oath to each other, then Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace."
"*** Genesis 18 ***"
"Esaus two wives When Isaacs firstborn son Esau was 40 years old, he married two local Canaanite women, but they were a source of grief to his father Isaac and his mother Rebekah. Rebekah induces her son Jacob to steal his brothers blessing Isaac was now old and had become blind. One day he summoned Esau and said to him, My son, I am now an old man and near the day of my death. Take your bow and go hunt wild game for me. Prepare the savoury food I love and bring it to me to eat. Then I will give you my blessing before I die. Now Rebekah was listening and when Esau had gone out to hunt she went and told her son Jacob what she had overheard. Then she said to Jacob, My son, do as I say."
"Go to the flock and bring me two young goats so that I can prepare savoury food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take the food into your father to eat so that he will give you his blessing before he dies. Jacob said to his mother, But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man with smooth skin, if my father touches me I would appear to be mocking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing. His mother replied, My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do as I say. Then Rebekah took clothes belonging to Esau which she had in the house and put them on Jacob."
"She also covered Jacobs hands and neck with skin from the goat, and handed him the savoury food she had prepared. Jacob deceives his father Jacob took the food into Isaac his father, and said, My father. His father replied, Yes my son, who is it? Jacob said, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Sit up and eat of my game, then give me your blessing. Isaac said, How did you find it so quickly my son? Jacob replied, Jehovah your God gave me success. Isaac said to Jacob, Come near so I can touch you my son, to know whether you really are Esau. Jacob went close to his father who touched him and said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
"Are you really my son Esau? Jacob replied, I am. Isaac said, My son, give me your game to eat. So Jacob gave it to him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. Isaac blesses Jacob with Isaacs blessing Then his father Isaac said to Jacob, Come here my son and kiss me. Jacob went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes he blessed him saying, Ah, the smell of my son is like the fragrance of a field that Jehovah has blessed. May God give you heavens rain and earths richness, an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers offspring and may they also bow down to you."
"May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed. Esau returns from hunting Isaac finished his blessing and Jacob had scarcely left his fathers presence when his brother Esau returned from hunting. He too prepared savoury food and brought it in to his father. His father said to him, Who are you? Esau replied, I am Esau your firstborn. Isaac trembled and said, Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me? I blessed him, and indeed he will be blessed. Esau weeps loudly when he hears When Esau heard his fathers words he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me too my father"
"But his father Isaac said, Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing. Esau said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me twice. He took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing Then he said, Have you not a blessing for me too father? Isaac answered, I have made him lord over you and your offspring. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I bless you with my son? Esau said, Do you have only one blessing my father? Bless me too Then he wept loudly. Isaacs lesser blessing of Esau So his father blessed Esau saying, Your dwelling shall be away from earths richness, away from the rain of the heavens above."
"You will live by the sword and serve your brother. But the day will come when you will throw off his yoke from your neck. Esau plans to kill his brother Jacob Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him, and he said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are near. Then I will kill Jacob. Rebekah warns Jacob to flee to her brother Laban When Rebekah heard what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and said to him, Your brother Esau comforts himself with the thought of killing you. Now then my son, flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him until your brothers anger subsides, then I will send for you to come back."
"*** Genesis 19 ***"
"Rebekah plans a way for Jacob to escape Then Rebekah said to her husband Isaac, I am weary of life because of these Canaanite women. If Jacob also takes a wife from among the women of this land my life will not be worth living. So Isaac called for Jacob and commanded him saying, Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Haran and take a wife for yourself from among the daughters of Laban your uncle. Esau marries a cousin to please his father When Esau realised that his Canaanite wives did not please his father, he married a daughter of his uncle Ishmael in addition to the two wives he already had. Jacob departs for Haran So Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran."
"When the sun set he stopped for the night at the town of Luz, and placing a stone under his head he lay down to sleep. Jacobs dream of a stairway to heaven That night he had a dream. He saw a stairway with its top reaching to heaven, and angels of God ascending and descending upon it. The Lord reaffirms his covenant with Jacob Above it stood the Lord who said to Jacob, I am Jehovah, God of your fathers Abraham and Isaac. I am giving you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying. Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All peoples on earth shall be blessed through you and your offspring."
"I will be with you and watch over you and bring you back to this land. Jacob awoke and was afraid and thought, How awesome is this place. Surely Jehovah is here. This is the house of God, the gate of heaven. Jacob vows to God to pay a tithe and renames the town Bethel The next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar. He poured oil upon it and renamed the town Bethel. F* Then Jacob made a vowF* saying, O God, if you will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and give me food and clothing so that I can return safely to my fathers house, Jehovah shall be my God."
"And where this stone is set up will be a place of God, and of all that you give me I will return to you a tenth. Jacob arrives in Haran Jacob continued his journey and came to Haran in the land of the east. There he saw a well with a large stone over the mouth, and three flocks of sheep waiting near by. For only when all the flocks were gathered would the shepherds roll away the stone to water the sheep. Jacob said to the shepherds, Where are you from my brothers? They replied, From Haran. Jacob said, Do you know Laban? They answered, We do. His daughter Rachel comes now with his sheep."
"Jacob meets Labans daughter Rachel and tells her who he is When Jacob saw Rachel he went over and rolled away the stone from the well and watered her sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. He told her that he was a nephew of her father Laban, the son of his sister Rebekah. So she ran home and told her father Laban. Laban greets his nephew When Laban heard, he hurried out to meet his nephew. He embraced Jacob and kissed him saying, My own flesh and blood. Jacob works seven years for Rachel After Jacob had stayed with him a month, Laban said to him, Should you work for me for nothing because you are a nephew of mine?"
"Tell me what your wages should be. Now Laban had two daughters, Leah the elder had tender eyes, but Rachel was more shapely in body and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel so he replied, I will work for you seven years in return for your daughter Rachel. So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, but it seemed to him but a short time because of his love for her. Laban deceives Jacob and he is required to marry both Leah and Rachel Then Jacob said to Laban, My time is completed. Give me my wife for I wish to lie with her. So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a wedding feast."
"But when evening came, instead of Rachel he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. When morning came and Jacob saw that it was Leah, he said to Laban, What have you done? I served you for Rachel. You have deceived me. Laban replied, It is not our custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder. Complete this week with Leah then I will give you Rachel also. Jacob agrees to another seven years of work However you must agree to another seven years of work. Jacob agreed to this, and he loved Rachel more than Leah."