A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Chapter 25

¹ And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spoke to him, saying: ‘My son, do not take you a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, your brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and lust, and there is no righteousness with them, for (their deeds) are evil.

² And I, my son, love you exceedingly, and my heart and my affection bless you every hour of the day and watch of the night.

³ And now, my son, listen to my voice, and do the will of your mother, and do not take you a wife of the daughters of this land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father’s kindred. You shall take you a wife of the house of my father, and the Most High God will bless you, and your children shall be a righteous generation and a holy seed.’

⁴ And then spoke Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said to her: ‘Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. — 9 times 7 = 63 years old;

⁵ For I remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father’s house and from my kindred.

⁶ I have heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, your brother, and I have set my heart on them to take a wife from amongst them. — so Jacob had already heard of Laban’s daughters;

⁷ And for this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit against sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life; for with regard to lust and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands.

⁸ And, despite all that he has commanded me, these two and twenty years my brother has striven with me, and spoken frequently to me and said: ‘My brother, take to wife a sister of my two wives’; but I refuse to do as he has done. — the tone expressed here doesn’t show any of the brother’s animosity for each other; but this was before Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright by deceit, which comes up the next chapter;

⁹ I swear before you, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from the daughters of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done.

¹⁰ Fear not, mother; be assured that I shall do your will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for ever.’

¹¹ And thereupon she lifted up her face to heaven and extended the fingers of her hands, and opened her mouth and blessed the Most High God, who had created the heaven and the earth, and she gave Him thanks and praise.

¹² And she said: ‘Blessed be the Lord God, and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever, who has given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed; for he is Your, and Your shall his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore.

¹³ Bless him, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him.’

¹⁴ And at that hour, when the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Jacob, and said:

¹⁵ Blessed are you, Lord of righteousness and God of the ages

And may He bless you beyond all the generations of men.
May He give you, my Son, the path of righteousness,
And reveal righteousness to your seed.

¹⁶ And may He make your sons many during your life,

And may they arise according to the number of the months of the year.
And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of heaven,
And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea.

^17-18 And may He give them this goodly land, as He said He would give it to Abraham and to his seed after him always-

And may they hold it as a possession for ever.

And may I see (born) to you, my son, blessed children during my life,
And a blessed and holy seed may all your seed be.

¹⁹ And as you have refreshed your mother’s spirit during her life,

The womb of her that bore you blesses you thus,
[My affection] and my breasts bless you
And my mouth and my tongue praise you greatly.

²⁰ Increase and spread over the earth,

And may your seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth for ever;
And may your seed rejoice,
And on the great day of peace may it have peace.

²¹ And may your name and your seed endure to all the ages,

And may the Most High God be their God,
And may the God of righteousness dwell with them,
And by them may His sanctuary be built to all the ages.

²² Blessed be he that blesseth you,

And all flesh that curseth you falsely, may it be cursed.’

²³ And she kissed him, and said to him;

‘May the Lord of the world love you
As the heart of your mother and her affection rejoice in you and bless you.’

And she ceased from blessing.

Chapter 26

¹ And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau, his elder Son, and said to him: ‘I am old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and I know not the day of my death.

² And now take your hunting weapons your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt and catch me (venison), my son, and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loves, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.’

³ But Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau.

⁴ And Esau went out early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father.

⁵ And Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and said to him: ‘Behold, I heard Isaac, your father, speak to Esau, your brother, saying: “Hunt for me, and make me savoury meat, and bring (it) to me that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die.”

⁶ And now, my son, obey my voice in that I command you: Go to your flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savoury meat for your father, such as he loves, and you shall bring (it) to your father that he may eat and bless you before the Lord before he die, and that you may be blessed.’

⁷ And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: ‘Mother, I shall not withhold anything which my father would eat, and which would please him: only I fear, my mother, that he will recognise my voice and wish to touch me.

⁸ And you know that I am smooth, and Esau, my brother, is hairy, and I shall appear before his eyes as an evildoer, and shall do a deed which he had not commanded me, and he will be angry with me, and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing.’

⁹ And Rebecca, his mother, said to him: ‘Upon me be your curse, my son, only obey my voice.’

¹⁰ And Jacob obeyed the voice of Rebecca, his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of the goats, and brought them to his mother, and his mother made them ~savoury meat~ such as he loved.

¹¹ And Rebecca took the goodly rainment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them), and she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and on the exposed parts of his neck.

¹² And she gave the meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹³ And Jacob went in to his father and said: ‘I am your son: I have done according as you badest me: arise and sit and eat of that I have caught, father, that your soul may bless me.’

¹⁴ And Isaac said to his son: ‘How have you found meat so quickly, my son?

¹⁵ ‘And Jacob said: ‘Because the Lord your God caused me to find it.’

¹⁶ And Isaac said to him: Come near, that I may feel you, my son, if you are my son Esau or not.’

¹⁷ And Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, and he felt him and said: ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,’

¹⁸ and he discerned him not, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his power of perception and Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as his brother Esau’s, so that he blessed him.

¹⁹ And he said: ‘Are you my son Esau? ‘ and he said: ‘I am your son’: and he said, ‘Bring near to me that I may eat of that you have caught, my son, that my soul may bless you.’

²⁰ And he brought near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and he drank.

²¹ And Isaac, his father, said to him: ‘Come near and kiss me, my son.

²² And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment, and he blessed him and said: ‘Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a (full) field which the Lord has blessed.

²³ And may the Lord give you of the dew of heaven

And of the dew of the earth, and plenty of corn and oil:
Let nations serve you,
And peoples bow down to you.

²⁴ Be lord over your brethren,

And let your mother’s sons bow down to you;
And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord has blessed me and blessed Abraham, my father;
Be imparted to you and to your seed for ever:
Cursed be he that curseth you,
And blessed be he that blesseth you.’

²⁵ And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing his son Jacob, and Jacob had gone forth from Isaac his father he hid himself and Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting.

²⁶ And he also made savoury meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said to his father: ‘Let my father arise, and eat of my venison that your soul may bless me.’

²⁷ And Isaac, his father, said to him: ‘Who are you? ‘And he said to him: ‘I am your first born, your son Esau: I have done as you have commanded me.’

²⁸ And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and said: ‘Who is he that has hunted and caught and brought (it) to me, and I have eaten of all before you camest, and have blessed him: (and) he shall be blessed, and all his seed for ever.’

²⁹ And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac that he cried with an wonderful and bitter cry, and said to his father:

³⁰ ‘Bless me, (even) me also, father.’ And he said to him: ‘Your brother came with guile, and has taken away your blessing.’ And he said: ‘Now I know why his name is named Jacob: behold, he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birth-right, and now he has taken away my blessing.’

³¹ And he said: ‘Hast you not reserved a blessing for me, father?’ and Isaac answered and said to Esau:

‘Behold, I have made him your lord,
And all his brethren have I given to him for servants,
And with plenty of corn and wine and oil have I strengthened him:
And what now shall I do for you, my son?’

³² And Esau said to Isaac, his father:

‘Hast you but one blessing, O father?
Bless me, (even) me also, father: ‘

³³ And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And Isaac answered and said to him:
‘Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be your dwelling,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.

³⁴ And by your sword must you live,

And you must serve your brother.
And it shall come to pass when you becomest great,
And do shake his yoke from off your neck,
You shall sin a complete sin to death,
And your seed shall be rooted out from under heaven.’

³⁵ And Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and he: said in his heart: ‘May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother Jacob.’

Chapter 27

¹ And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him:

² ‘Behold Esau your brother will take vengeance on you so as to kill you.

³ Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee you to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until your brother’s anger turns away, and he remove his anger from you, and forget all that you have done; then I will send and fetch you from thence.’

⁴ And Jacob said: ‘I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him.’

⁵ But she said to him: ‘Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.’

⁶ And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: ‘Behold, you know that my father has become old, and does not see because his eyes are dull, and if I leave him it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you, and my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not go; when he sends me, then only will I go.’

⁷ And Rebecca said to Jacob: ‘I will go in and speak to him, and he will send you away.’

⁸ And Rebecca went in and said to Isaac: ‘I loathe my life because of the two daughters of Heth, whom Esau has taken him as wives; and if Jacob take a wife from among the daughters of the land such as these, for what purpose do I further live, for the daughters of Canaan are evil.’

⁹ And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said to him: ‘Do not take you a wife of any of the daughters of Canaan;

¹⁰ arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

¹¹ And God Almighty bless you and increase and multiply you that you may become a company of nations, and give you the blessings of my father Abraham, to you and to your seed after you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings and all the land which God gave to Abraham: go, my son, in peace.’

¹² And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob’s mother.

¹³ And it came to pass after Jacob had arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son, and she wept.

¹⁴ And Isaac said to Rebecca: ‘My sister, Do not weep on account of Jacob, my son; for he goeth in peace, and in peace will he return.

¹⁵ The Most High God will preserve him from all evil, and will be with him; for He will not forsake him all his days;

¹⁶ For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things wherever he goes, until he return in peace to us, and we see him in peace.

¹⁷ Fear not on his account, my sister, for he is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is faithful and will not perish. Do not weep.’

¹⁸ And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob, and blessed him.

¹⁹ And Jacob went from the Well of the Oath to go to Haran on the first year of the second week in the forty-fourth jubilee, and he came to Luz on the mountains, that is, Bethel, on the new moon of the first month of this week.

²⁰ And he came to the place at evening and turned from the way to the west of the road that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and laid under the tree, and he was journeying alone, and he slept.

²¹ And he dreamt that night, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended on it: and behold, the Lord stood upon it.

²² And he spoke to Jacob and said: ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon you are sleeping, to you will I give it, and to your seed after you.

²³ And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall increase to the west and to the east, to the north and the south, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the nations be blessed.

²⁴ And behold, I will be with you, and will keep you whithersoever you go, and I will bring you again into this land in peace; for I will not leave you until I do everything that I told you of.’

²⁵ And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, ‘Truly this place is the house of the Lord, and I knew it not.’ And he was afraid and said: ‘Dreadful is this place which is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

²⁶ And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the place was Luz at the first.

²⁷ And Jacob vowed a vow to the Lord, saying: ‘If the Lord will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set up as a pillar for a sign in this place, shall be the Lord’s house, and of all that you give me, I shall give one tenth of it to you, my God.’

Chapter 28

¹ And he went on his journey, and came to the land of the east, to Laban, the brother of Rebecca, and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week.

² And in the first year of the third week he said to him: ‘Give me my wife, for whom I have served you seven years ‘; and Laban said to Jacob: ‘I will give you your wife.’ — it should be “in the first year of the second week?”

³ And Laban made a feast, and took Leah his elder daughter, and gave (her) to Jacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his handmaid as a maidservant; and Jacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel.

⁴ And he went in to her, and behold, she was Leah; and Jacob was angry with Laban, and said to him: ‘Why have you dealt thus with me? Did not I serve you for Rachel and not for Leah? Why have you wronged me?

⁵ Take your daughter, and I will go; for you have done evil to me.’ For Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah; for Leah’s eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel had beautiful eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form.

⁶ And Laban said to Jacob: ‘It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the elder.’ And it is not right to do this; for thus it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets, that no one should give his younger daughter before the elder; but the elder, one gives first and after her the younger, and the man who does so, they set down guilt against him in heaven, and none is righteous that does this thing, for this deed is evil before the Lord.

⁷ And command you the children of Israel that they do not this thing; let them neither take nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked.

⁸ And Laban said to Jacob: ‘Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give you Rachel, that you may serve me another seven years, that you may pasture my sheep as you did in the former week.’

⁹ And on the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah had passed, Laban gave Rachel to Jacob, that he might serve him another seven years, and he gave to Rachel Bilhah, the sister of Zilpah, as a handmaid.

¹⁰ And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given to him for nothing.

¹¹ And the Lord opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the third week.

¹² But the womb of Rachel was closed, for the Lord saw that Leah was hated and Rachel loved.

¹³ And again Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a second son, and he called his name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in the third year of this week.

¹⁴ And again Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore him a third son, and he called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month in the sixth year of this week.

¹⁵ And again Jacob went in to her, and she conceived, and bore him a fourth son, and he called his name Judah, on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week.

¹⁶ And on account of all this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to Jacob: ‘Give me children’; and Jacob said: ‘Have I withheld from you the fruits of your womb? Have I forsaken you?’

¹⁷ And when Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Jacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah, she said to him: ‘Go in to Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son to me.’

¹⁸ (And she gave (him) Bilhah her handmaid to wife). And he went in to her, and she conceived, and bore him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of the third week.

¹⁹ And Jacob went in again to Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bore Jacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth of the seventh month, in the second year of the fourth week.

²⁰ And when Leah saw that she had become sterile and did not bear, she envied Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob to wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the fourth week.

²¹ And he went in again to her, and she conceived, and bore him a second son, and Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in the fifth year of the fourth week.

²² And Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the fourth week, and she gave him to a nurse.

²³ And Jacob went in again to her, and she conceived, and bore two (children), a son and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of the daughter Dinah, in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week.

²⁴ And the Lord was gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Joseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the sixth year in this fourth week.

²⁵ And in the days when Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: ‘Give me my wives and sons, and let me go to my father Isaac, and let me make me an house; for I have completed the years in which I have served you for your two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.’

²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob: ‘Tarry with me for your wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and take your wages.’

²⁷ And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were to be his wages.

²⁸ And all the sheep brought forth spotted and speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought forth again lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were Jacob’s and those which were not were Laban’s.

²⁹ And Jacob’s possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and sheep and donkeys and camels, and menservants and maid-servants.

³⁰ And Laban and his sons envied Jacob, and Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.

~ by Joel on December 14, 2024.

Posted in Books of Ancients