Bible in 90 Days

Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was 99 years old, Adonai appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Continually walk before Me and you will be blameless. ² My heart’s desire is to make My covenant between Me and you, and then I will multiply you exceedingly much.”

³ Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying, ⁴ “For My part, because My covenant is with you, you will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer will your name be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I make you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ Yes, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will come forth from you. ⁷ Yes, I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, in order to be your God and your seed’s God after you. ⁸ I will give to you and to your seed after you the land where you are an outsider—the whole land of Canaan—as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ God also said to Abraham, “As for you, My covenant you must keep, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant that you must keep between Me and you and your seed after you: all your males must be circumcised. ¹¹ You must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this will become a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² Also your eight-day-olds must be circumcised, every male, throughout your generations, including a house-born slave or a slave bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. ¹³ Your house-born slave and your purchased slave must surely be circumcised. So My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin—that person will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her by the name Sarai. Rather, Sarah is her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son from her. I will bless her and she will give rise to nations. Kings of the peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to his heart, “Will a son be born to a 100-year-old man? Or will Sarah—who is 90 years old—give birth?” ¹⁸ So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!”

¹⁹ But God said, “On the contrary, Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you must name him Isaac. So I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. See, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him very very much. He will father twelve princes and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My covenant will I establish with Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²² When He finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all of his house-born slaves and all his purchased slaves—every male among the men of Abraham’s house—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, just as God had spoken with him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, ²⁵ and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham and Ishmael his son were circumcised. ²⁷ Also all the men of his house, house-born slaves and slaves purchased from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Parashat Vayera

The Promise of a Son

18 Then Adonai appeared to him at Mamre’s large trees while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. ² When he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed down to the ground. ³ Then he said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought so you can wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree. ⁵ And let me bring a bit of bread so that you can refresh yourselves—then you can pass on—since you have passed by your servant.

They said, “Do just as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and prepare bread loaves!” ⁷ Then to the herd Abraham ran and took a young ox, tender and good, and he gave it to the servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Then he took butter and milk and the young ox that he had prepared and set it before them. While he was standing by them under the tree, they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

“There, in the tent,” he said.

¹⁰ Then He said, “I will most surely return to you in about a year’s time, surprisingly, Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind Him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years—Sarah had stopped having the way of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I’ve grown decrepit, can I have desire—and my lord so old?”

¹³ Then Adonai said to Abraham, “Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Can I really give birth when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for Adonai? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah denied it saying, “I didn’t laugh!” For she was afraid.

But He said, “No—for you did laugh.”

Abraham Intercedes

¹⁶ Then the men got up from there and looked down over Sodom. Abraham was walking with them to send them off, ¹⁷ when Adonai said, “Should I keep secret from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸ seeing that Abraham will most certainly become a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have made myself known to him so that he will command his sons and his household after him to keep the way of Adonai by doing righteousness and justice, so that Adonai may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ Then Adonai said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great indeed, and their sin is very grievous indeed. ²¹ I want to go down now, and see if they deserve destruction, as its outcry has come to Me. And if not, I will know.”

²² Then the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before Adonai. ²³ Abraham drew near and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing—to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked share the same fate! Far be it from You! Shall the Judge of the whole world not exercise justice?”

²⁶ Then Adonai said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous people within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “Look, pray, I have decided to speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous people are lacking five. Will You destroy the whole city for lack of five?”

And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹ So he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Perhaps forty will be found there?”

And He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

³⁰ Then he said, “Please, let my Lord not be angry, so I may speak. Perhaps thirty will be found there?”

And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ Then he said, “Look, pray, I have decided to speak to my Lord: Perhaps twenty will be found there?”

And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

³² Then he said, “Please, let not my Lord be angry, so I may speak once more. Perhaps ten will be found there?”

And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

³³ Now when He had finished speaking to Abraham, Adonai left, and Abraham returned to his place.

Sodom and Gomorrah

19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² Then he said, “Here, please my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house, spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

But they said, “No. We will spend the night in the open plaza.”

³ But he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and they came into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked matzot, and they ate. ⁴ They had not yet lain down when the men of the city (the men of Sodom) surrounded the house—from youth to elderly, all the people without exception. ⁵ And they called out to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have relations with them!”

⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act wickedly. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who haven’t been intimate with a man. Please let me bring them out to you—do to them whatever is good in your eyes! However, do nothing to these men—since they have come under the protection of my roof.”

⁹ “Get out of the way!” they said, and they said, “This one came as an outsider and dares to judge! Now we’ll treat you worse than them!”

So they strongly pressed against the man, Lot, and moved in close to break the door down. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men at the doorway of the house with blindness—from youth to elderly—so that they gave up trying to find the doorway.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Who else related to you is still here? A son-in-law, your sons and your daughters, whoever else is related to you in the city—bring them out of the place! ¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before Adonai that Adonai has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So 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 Adonai is about to destroy the city!” But in the eyes of his sons-in-law, he was like a joker.

¹⁵ So when morning dawned the angels rushed Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be swept away with the city’s iniquity!” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand and his two daughters’ hands—because of Adonai’s compassion for him—and they brought him out and left him outside the city.

¹⁷ When they brought them outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the surrounding area! Escape to the hills, or else you’ll be swept away!”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my Lord, please! ¹⁹ Look, please, your servant has found favor in Your eyes and You have magnified Your merciful loyalty, which You have shown me by letting me live. But I can’t escape to the hill country—for the disaster will overtake me and I’ll die! ²⁰ Look, please, this city is close enough to flee there, and it’s little. Please let me escape there. Isn’t it small? And let me live!”

²¹ So He said to him, “Behold, I will grant your request concerning this matter too—not to demolish the city of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry! Flee to safety there, because I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This is why the town is named Zoar.)

²³ The moment the sun rose upon the land, Lot entered Zoar, ²⁴ and Adonai rained sulfur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah from Adonai out of the sky. ²⁵ So He demolished these cities and the whole surrounding area, all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked behind him and she turned into a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Adonai, ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the entire land of the surrounding area, and saw, behold, the smoke of the land ascended like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹ So it was, as God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the upheaval, when He demolished the cities where Lot had dwelt.

Lot Fathers Moab and Ammon

³⁰ Then Lot went up from Zoar and dwelled on the mountain, his two daughters with him, because he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. So he lived in a cave—he and his two daughters.

³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to come to us as is the custom of the whole land. ³² Come on! Let’s make our father drink wine so that we can lie with him and keep the seed from our father alive. ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and lay down with her father. Yet he did not know that she lay down and got up. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “See! I slept with my father last night. Let’s make him drink wine tonight as well. Come on! Sleep with him so that we’ll keep the seed from our father alive.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night as well, and the younger got up and lay down with him and he did not know that she lay down and got up. ³⁶ So Lot’s two daughters become pregnant by their father. ³⁷ Then the firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab: he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ The younger also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi: he is the ancestor of the sons of Ammon to this day.

Sarah Renewed

20 Then Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was dwelling as an outsider in Gerar, ² Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for and took Sarah. ³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “Behold, you are as good as dead, because of the woman whom you have taken—since she is a married woman.”

⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her. So he said, “My Lord, will You slay a nation, even though innocent? ⁵ Didn’t he say to me, ‘She’s my sister’? And she herself even said, ‘He’s my brother.’ I did this with integrity of my heart and guiltlessness of my hands.”

⁶ Then God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I myself knew that you did this with integrity of your heart, so I, yes I Myself prevented you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not allow you to touch her. ⁷ So now, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet. And let him pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will surely die—you and all who are yours.”

⁸ Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants and spoke all these words in their ears—and the men were very frightened. ⁹ Then Abimelech called to Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us, and how have I sinned against you, that you brought great sin upon me and my kingdom? You’ve done to me things that should not be done!” ¹⁰ Abimelech also said to Abraham, “What motivated you to do this thing?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘There is certainly no fear of God in this place, so they’ll kill me, because of my wife.’ ¹² And besides, she really is my sister. She’s my father’s daughter, though not my mother’s daughter. Then she became my wife. ¹³ So when God made me wander away from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your loyalty that you must show me: in every place we go, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech took sheep, cattle, male slaves and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Dwell wherever it pleases you.” ¹⁶ At the same time he said to Sarah, “Look, I’ve given a thousand shekels to your brother. Look, it is compensation for everything that happened—so to everyone with you, you are vindicated.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female slaves so that they could bear children. ¹⁸ For Adonai had completely locked up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Birth of Isaac

21 Then Adonai visited Sarah just as He had said, and Adonai did for Sarah just as He had spoken. ² So Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time that God had told him. ³ Abraham named his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore for him—Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised Isaac, his eight-day-old son, just as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

⁶ So Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me! Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham, ‘Sarah has nursed children’? For I have given birth to a son in his old age!”

Ishmael Banished, Yet Delivered

⁸ The child grew and was weaned—Abraham made a big feast on the day Isaac was weaned. ⁹ But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had born to Abraham—making fun. ¹⁰ So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this female slave and her son, for the son of this female slave will not be an heir with my son—with Isaac.”

¹¹ Now the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s eyes on account of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased about the boy and your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For through Isaac shall your seed be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, because he is your seed.”

¹⁴ So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away. She went and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵ When the water from the skin was finished, she abandoned the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat herself down opposite, about a bowshot away, for she had said, “I can’t bear to see the child dying!” So she sat down opposite and lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷ Then God heard the boy’s voice and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and He said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, because God has heard the boy’s voice where he is. ¹⁸ Get up! Lift the boy up, and hold on to him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the water skin, and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy and he grew. He dwelled in the wilderness and became an archer. ²¹ He dwelled in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant of Abimelech and Abraham

²² Now it came about at that same time that Abimelech—with Phicol the commander of his army—said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. ²³ So now, make a pledge to me here, by God, that you will not violate your word with me or with my descendants or with my offspring. As I have shown loyalty to you, show the same to me, and to the land in which you have lived as an outsider.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I make a pledge.” ²⁵ Now Abraham had rebuked Abimelech because of the well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁶ So Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this thing. Nor did you tell me, nor did I hear about it until today.”

²⁷ Then Abraham took a flock of sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Abraham set seven young ewe-lambs apart from the flock of sheep by themselves. ²⁹ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe-lambs that you’ve set by themselves mean?”

³⁰ He said, “You are to accept the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, so that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” ³¹ That is why that place is named Beer-sheba, because there both of them made a pledge, ³² and they made a covenant in Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech got up, with Phicol the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³ Then he planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba and called there on the Name of Adonai, the Everlasting God. ³⁴ He lived as an outsider in the land of the Philistines for many days.

The Binding of Isaac

22 Now it was after these things that God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham.”^[a]

“Hineni,” he said.

² Then He said, “Take your son, your only son whom you love^[b]—Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains about which I will tell you.”

³ So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split wood for the burnt offering, and got up and went to the place about which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Sit yourselves down here with the donkey. As for me and the young man, we’ll go over there, worship and return to you.”

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

⁷ Then Isaac said to Abraham his father, “My father?”

Then he said, “Here I am, my son.”

He said, “Look. Here’s the fire and the wood. But where’s the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

The two of them walked on together. ⁹ Then they came to the place about which God had told him, and Abraham built the altar there, laid out the wood, bound up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ^{[c] 10} Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹ But the angel of Adonai called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

He said, “Hineni!”

¹² Then He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the young man—do nothing to him at all. For now I know that you are one who fears God—you did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and behold, there was a ram, just caught in the thick bushes by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham named that place, Adonai Yireh,—as it is said today, “On the mountain, Adonai will provide.”

¹⁵ The angel of Adonai called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I swear—it is a declaration of Adonai—because you have done this thing, and you did not withhold your son, your only son, ^{[d] 17} I will richly bless you and bountifully multiply your seed like the stars of heaven, and like the sand that is on the seashore, and your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed—because you obeyed My voice.”^[e]

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his young men and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. Then Abraham dwelled in Beer-sheba.

²⁰ Now it was after these things that it was told to Abraham, “Look, Milcah has also borne sons to Nahor your brother: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Yidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³ Then Bethuel fathered Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

Parashat Chayei Sarah

Abraham Purchases Machpelah

23 Now Sarah’s life was 127 years—the years of Sarah’s life. ² Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

³ Then Abraham rose from before his dead one and spoke to the sons of Heth saying, ⁴ “I am an outsider and a sojourner among you. Give me a gravesite among you so that I may bury my dead from before my presence.”

⁵ The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our graves. None among us will withhold his grave from you, to bury your dead one.”

⁷ Then Abraham got up and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, ⁸ and spoke with them saying, “If you are of a mind to let me bury my dead from before my presence, listen to me. Plead with Ephron son of Zophar on my behalf, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him, that is at the end of his field. At the full price let him give it to me in your midst for a gravesite.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, all those who enter the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, listen to me. The field—I hereby give it to you. Also the cave that is in it—I hereby give it to you. In the eyes of the sons of my people, I hereby give it to you. Bury your dead one.”

¹² Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land, ¹³ and spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land saying, “But if only you would please listen to me. I hereby give the price of the field. Accept it from me that I may bury my dead one there.”

¹⁴ So Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me. A land worth 400 shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? Bury your dead one.”

¹⁶ Abraham heard Ephron. So Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth—400 shekels of silver at the merchant’s rate. ¹⁷ Now Ephron’s field that is in Machpelah next to Mamre—the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field in all its surrounding territory—was handed over ¹⁸ to Abraham as a purchased possession in the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all those who enter the gate of his city.

¹⁹ Afterward, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it were handed over to Abraham as a gravesite from the sons of Heth.

Courting of Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and Adonai blessed Abraham in everything. ² Then Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household who managed everything that belonged to him, “Now put your hand under my thigh, ³ so that I may make you take an oath by Adonai, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling. ⁴ On the contrary, to my land and to my relatives you must go and get a wife for my son Isaac.

⁵ But the servant said to him, “Suppose the woman were unwilling to follow after me to this land? Should I then have your son go back to the land you came from?

⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you don’t return my son there. ⁷ Adonai, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land and who spoke to me and made a pledge to me saying, ‘To your seed I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you and you will take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is not willing to follow after you, then you will be free from this oath of mine. Nevertheless, you must not return my son there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and he made a pledge to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left with all the best of his master’s things in his hand. Then he arose and went to Aram-Naharaim, to Nahor’s city. ¹¹ Then he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time for the going out to draw water.

¹² “Adonai, the God of Abraham my master,” he said, “please make something happen before me today, and show loyalty to Abraham my master. ¹³ Look, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are going out to draw water. ¹⁴ Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please tip your jar so that I may drink,’ and she will say, ‘Drink—and I’ll also water your camels’—let her be the one You have appointed for your servant Isaac. So by this I’ll know that You have shown graciousness to my master.”

¹⁵ Now before he had finished speaking, behold there was Rebekah (who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother) going out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the young woman was very good looking, a girl of marriageable age, and she was a virgin. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me sip a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ So she said, “Drink, my lord,” and she quickly lowered her jar onto her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ Now when she finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they’ve finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly poured out her jug into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew water for all his camels, ²¹ while the man continued to pay close attention to her, keeping silent in order to know whether or not Adonai had made his way successful.

²² Now after the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a nose ring of gold weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets on her hands weighing ten shekels of gold. ²³ “Whose daughter are you?” he said. “Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She said to him, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ She also said to him, “There’s both straw and plenty of feed with us, as well as room to spend the night.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshipped Adonai, ²⁷ and he said, “Blessed be Adonai, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His loyalty and His truth toward my master. As for me, Adonai has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s house these things.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother and his name was Laban, and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister saying, “Thus the man said to me,” he went to the man. There he was, standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ So he said, “Come in, blessed of Adonai. Why are you standing outside when I’ve tidied up the house and there is room for the camels?”

³² So the man came to the house and he unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Food was placed before him to eat, but he said, “I won’t eat until I’ve stated my business.”

So he said, “Speak.”

³⁴ “I am Abraham’s servant,” he said. ³⁵ Adonai has blessed my master very much so that he has become great, and He has given to him flocks of sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now Sarah, my master’s wife, gave birth to a son for my master after she was old, and He gave him everything he owns. ³⁷ Then my master made me take an oath, saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I’m dwelling.’ ³⁸ Instead you must go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ But I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman won’t come back with me?’ ⁴⁰ So he said to me, ‘Adonai, before whom I’ve walked continually, will send His angel with you, and He will make your way successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s household. ⁴¹ Then you’ll be free from my oath—if you come to my family and if they don’t give her to you—then you’ll be free from my oath.’ ⁴² So I came today to the spring and I said, ‘Adonai, the God of Abraham my master, if You are really going to make my way upon which I am walking successful, ⁴³ look, I’m standing by the spring of water. So let it be that the unmarried girl who is going out to draw water, to whom I’ll say, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jug,” ⁴⁴ and she’ll say to me, “You drink, and I’ll also draw water for your camels”—let her be the woman whom Adonai appoints for my master’s son!’ ⁴⁵ I had not yet finished speaking to my heart, and behold there was Rebekah going out—her jug was on her shoulder and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶ And she quickly lowered her jug off of her and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ Then I placed the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands. ⁴⁸ I bowed down and worshipped Adonai and blessed Adonai, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the true way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ So now, if you’re really going to show loyalty and truth to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me and I’ll turn to the right or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, “The matter proceeds from Adonai. We cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Rebekah is before you. Take her and go, and let her become a wife for our master’s son, just as Adonai has spoken.”

⁵² Now when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground to Adonai. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out articles of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brothers and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and spent the night.

When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me off to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother with her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days—or ten. Afterwards she may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Don’t delay me, since Adonai has made my way successful. Send me off so that I can go to my master.”

⁵⁷ So they said, “We’ll call the young woman and let’s ask her opinion.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent Rebekah their sister off with her nanny, and Abraham’s servant and his men, ⁶⁰ and they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

⁶¹ Then Rebekah got up, with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed after the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from visiting Beer-lahai-roi and was living in the land of the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out to meditate strolling in the field at dusk. Then he lifted up his eyes and saw, behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac. Then she fell off her camel.

⁶⁵ Then she said to the servant, “Who is that man there who is walking in the field—to meet us?”

The servant said, “He is my master.”

So she took the veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the servant recounted to Isaac all the things he had done.

⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, took Rebekah and she became his wife—and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after the loss of his mother.

Abraham’s Old Age and Descendants

25 Now Abraham took another wife—her name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim. ⁴ Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. ⁵ Now Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac, ⁶ but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham had given gifts and sent them away from his son Isaac while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.

⁷ Now these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life that he lived: 175 years. ⁸ So Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, old and satisfied. Then he was gathered to his peoples. ⁹ Then Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, next to Mamre, ¹⁰ the field that Abraham bought from the sons of Heth. There Abraham is buried along with Sarah his wife.

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

¹² Now these are the genealogies of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their descendants: Ishmael’s firstborn, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedem. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael’s sons and these are their names, by their unwalled and walled settlements, twelve princes according to their clans. ¹⁷ These are the years of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He breathed his last, died and was gathered to his peoples. ¹⁸ Then they dwelled from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria. Over against all his brothers he fell.

Parashat Toledot

Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ Now these are the genealogies of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he took for himself Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to Adonai on behalf of his wife because she was barren. Adonai answered his plea and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

²² But the children struggled with one another inside her, and she said, “If it’s like this, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai. ²³ Adonai said to her:

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came out reddish, all of him was like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel—so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when he fathered them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a man knowledgeable in hunting, an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a mild man, remaining in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew. When Esau came in from the field, he was exhausted, ³⁰ so Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of this really red stuff, because I’m exhausted”—that is why he is called Edom.

³¹ So Jacob said, “Sell your birthright to me today.”

³² Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. Of whatever use is this to me—a birthright?”

³³ Jacob said, “Make a pledge to me now.”

So he made a pledge to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ^{[f] 34} Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Confirming the Covenant with Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land—aside from the previous famine that happened in Abraham’s days. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines, to Gerar. ² Then Adonai appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land about which I tell you. ³ Live as an outsider in this land and I will be with you and bless you—for to you and to your seed I give all these lands—and I will confirm my pledge that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your seed like the stars of the sky and I will give your seed all these lands. And in your seed all the nations of the earth will continually be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My mitzvot, My decrees, and My instructions.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ Now the men of the place asked about his wife. So he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife”—“or else the men of the place would kill me on account of Rebekah, because she’s good looking.”

⁸ Now after he had been there for a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines peered down through the window and saw, behold, Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “So in fact she’s your wife! Now how could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Or else I might die because of her.’”

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

¹¹ So Abimelech commanded all the people saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely die!”

Adonai Blesses Isaac

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land and in that year reaped a hundredfold. Adonai blessed him ¹³ and the man became great and continued to become greater until he became very great. ¹⁴ He acquired livestock of sheep and livestock of cattle, and numerous servants. Then the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham the Philistines stopped up and filled with dirt. ¹⁶ So Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there, camped in the Valley of Gerar and dwelled there. ¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham—the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham’s death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them. ¹⁹ Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of living water there. ²⁰ But the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Quarrel, because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then he dug another well and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Accusation. ²² Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he named it Wide Spaces and said, “Because now Adonai has created wide spaces for us and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³ He went up from there to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ Adonai appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraham my servant.”

²⁵ So he built an altar there and called on the Name of Adonai. He pitched his tent there and Isaac’s servants hollowed out a well there.

Covenant of Isaac and Abimelech

²⁶ Now Abimelech went to him from Gerar along with Achuzzat his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from you?”

²⁸ They said, “We’ve clearly seen that Adonai has been with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an agreement between us—between us and you—and let us make a covenant with you: ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we haven’t touched you and just as we did nothing to you but good, and sent you away in shalom. You are now blessed by Adonai.”

³⁰ Then he made a feast for them and they ate and drank. ³¹ Then they got up early in the morning and made a pledge, each to his brother. Then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in shalom. ³² Now it happened that on that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they dug, and said to him, “We’ve found water.” ³³ So he called it Pledge. That is why the city’s name is Beer-sheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he took as wife Judith the daughter of Be-eri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ But they caused a bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob Tricks Isaac

27 Now it was when Isaac grew old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he said to him.

² “Look, I’m old,” he said. “I don’t know the day of my death. ³ So now, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt me some game. ⁴ Then prepare me a delicious meal that I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac was speaking to Esau his son. So while Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring in, ⁶ Rebekah said to Jacob her son, “Look, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a delicious meal that I may eat and bless you in Adonai’s presence before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I am commanding you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me two good young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father—that he’ll love. ¹⁰ Then you’ll bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I’m a smooth man. ¹² Perhaps my father will touch me, and he’ll take me for a mocker, and I’ll bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

¹³ Then his mother said to him, “Let your curse fall on me, my son. Just listen to me, and go, get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared a delicious meal that his father would love. ¹⁵ Rebekah also took her elder son Esau’s favorite clothes that were with her in the house, and she put them on her younger son Jacob, ¹⁶ along with the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the hairless part of his neck. ¹⁷ She put the delicious meal and the bread that she had prepared in the hand of Jacob her son.

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.”

And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Then Jacob said to his father, “I’m your firstborn, Esau. I’ve done just what you said to me. Sit up, please, and eat some of my wild game so that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ Then Isaac said to his son, “How in the world were you able to find it so quickly, my son?”

He said, “Because Adonai your God made it happen for me.”

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can feel you my son—whether or not you really are my son Esau.”

²² So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac, and he felt him. Then he said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are Esau’s hands.” ²³ He did not recognize him because his hands were like the hairy hands of his brother Esau. So he blessed him. ²⁴ But he said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

So he said, “I am.”

²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it to me and I’ll eat some of my son’s wild game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it to him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank.

²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me my son.” ²⁷ So he came closer and kissed him. When he smelled the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

³⁰ No sooner had Isaac finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had just gone out from his father Isaac’s presence, than Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father, and he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat of his son’s wild game that your soul may bless me.”

³² His father Isaac said, “Who are you?”

And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled with intense trembling and said, “Who was it then that hunted wild game and brought it to me? I ate it all just before you came and I blessed him—and yes, he will be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he shouted with an intensely bitter groan. Then he said to his father, “Bless me, me too, my father!”

³⁵ Then he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶ He said, “Is this why he was named Jacob—since he’s tricked me twice already? My birthright he’s taken. Look! Now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he said, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I’ve made him master over you, and all your brothers I’ve given to him as servants. I’ve provided him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you just have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ Then Isaac his father said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “Let the time for mourning my father draw near, so that I can kill my brother Jacob!”

⁴² Now to Rebekah was reported the words of Esau her elder son. So she sent and called for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself about you with the thought of killing you. ⁴³ So now my son, listen to my voice. Get up—flee to Laban my brother in Haran! ⁴⁴ Then stay with him a few days, until your brother’s rage subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you’ve done to him. Then I’ll send for you and get you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these women, from the daughters of the land what is life to me?”

Jacob Sent to Laban

28 So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, commanded him and said to him, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Get up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ Now may El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you will become an assembly of peoples. ⁴ And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went toward Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. ⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to take for himself a wife from there, when he blessed him and commanded him saying, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” ⁷ Jacob listened to his father Isaac and to his mother and went toward Paddan-aram. ⁸ Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were contemptible in his father Isaac’s eyes. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, Nebaioth’s sister for his wife, besides his other wives.

Parashat Vayetze

Jacob’s Ladder From Heaven

¹⁰ Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place. ¹² He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it! ¹³ Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it^[g] and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. ¹⁴ Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”

¹⁶ Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Undoubtedly, Adonai is in this place—and I was unaware.” ¹⁷ So he was afraid and said, “How fearsome this place is! This is none other than the House of God—this must be the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ Early in the morning Jacob got up and took the stone, which he had placed by his head, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Beth-El (though originally the city’s name was Luz).