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Genesis 27; Genesis 28; Genesis 29

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Genesis 27

1 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.
2 And his father said to him, Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.
3 Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad; and when thou hast taken something by hunting,
4 Make me a savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee, before I die.
5 And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfil his father’s commandment,
6 She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau, thy brother, and saying to him:
7 Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
8 Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
9 And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.
10 Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
11 And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I am smooth:
12 If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.
13 And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
14 He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
15 And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
16 And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
17 And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
18 Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said: I am Esau, thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way:
21 And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no.
22 He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands, are the hands of Esau.
23 And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,
24 He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
25 Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
26 He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
27 He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.
28 God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.
29 And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother’s children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.
30 Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
31 And brought in to his father meats, made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison; that thy soul may bless me.
32 And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son, Esau.
33 Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly; and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
34 Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great cry; and, being in a consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
35 And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.
36 But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: My birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
37 Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?
38 And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
39 Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
40 Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.
41 Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.
42 These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob, her son, and said to him: Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth to kill thee.
43 Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise and flee to Laban, my brother, to Haran:
44 And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
45 And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?
46 And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.

Genesis 28

1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:
2 But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel, thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban, thy uncle.
3 And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.
4 And give the blessings of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.
5 And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother to Rebecca, his mother.
6 And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:
7 And that Jacob obeying his parents, was gone into Syria:
8 Experiencing also, that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:
9 He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nabajoth.
10 But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.
11 And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.
12 And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it.
13 And the Lord leaning upon the ladder saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: The land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.
15 And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.
16 And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
17 And trembling, he said: How terrible is this place? this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.
18 And Jacob arising in the morning, took the stone which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.
19 And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.
20 And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 And I shall return prosperously to my father’s house: the Lord shall be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.

Genesis 29

1 Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.
2 And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying by it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone.
3 And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together, to roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the mouth of the well again.
4 And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They answered: Of Haran.
5 And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban, the son of Nachor? They said: We know him.
6 He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold, Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his flock.
7 And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it time to bring the flocks into the folds again: first give the sheep drink, and so lead them back to feed.
8 They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered together, and we remove the stone from the well’s mouth, that we may water the flocks.
9 They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she fed the flock.
10 And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin german, and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed the stone wherewith the well was closed.
11 And having watered the flock, he kissed her: and lifting up his voice wept.
12 And he told her that he was her father’s brother, and the son of Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.
13 Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister’s son was come, ran forth to meet him: and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought him into his house. And when he had heard the causes of his journey,
14 He answered: Thou art my bone and my flesh. And after the days of one month were expired,
15 He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.
16 Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia; and the younger was called Rachel.
17 But Lia was blear eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a beautiful countenance.
18 And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter.
19 Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to another man; stay with me.
20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few days, because of the greatness of his love.
21 And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
22 And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the feast, made the marriage.
23 And at night he brought in Lia, his daughter, to him,
24 Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha. Now when Jacob had gone in to her according to custom, when morning was come he saw it was Lia.
25 And he said to his father in law: What is it that thou didst mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?
26 Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the younger in marriage first.
27 Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee her also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.
28 He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he married Rachel:
29 To whom her father gave Bala, for her servant.
30 And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years.
31 And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but her sister remained barren.
32 And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben, saying: The Lord saw my affliction: now my husband will love me.
33 And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because the Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and she called his name Simeon.
34 And she conceived the third time, and bore another son, and said: Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons: and therefore she called his name Levi.
35 The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: Now will I praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left bearing.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.