World English Bible · The patriarchs
Genesis 27
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When was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called his elder son, and said to him, "My son?" He said to him, "Here I am." He said, "See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my . Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison. Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that may you before I ." 5 heard when spoke to his son. went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. spoke to her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your speak to your brother, saying, 'Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and you before before my .' Now therefore, my son, according to that which I command you. Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your , such as he loves. 10You shall bring it to your , that he may eat, so that he may you before his ." said to his mother, "Behold, my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. What if touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring on myself, and not a ." His mother said to him, "Let your be on me, my son. Only , and go get them for me." He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his loved. took the good clothes of , her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on , her younger son. 16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 17She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son . 18He came to his , and said, "?" He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?" said to his , "I am your . I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your may me." said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because your gave me success." said to , "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son or not." 22 went near to his . He felt him, and said, "The voice is voice, but the hands are the hands of ." He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother hands. So he him. He said, "Are you really my son ?" He said, "I am." He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that may you." He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him , and he drank. 26His said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son." He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which has . give you of the of , of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and . Let peoples you, and nations to you. Be over your brothers. Let your mother's sons to you. be everyone who you. be everyone who blesses you." 30As soon as had finished , and had gone out from the of his , his brother came in from his hunting. He also made savory food, and brought it to his . He said to his , "Let arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your may me." his said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your , ." trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have him? Yes, he will be ." When heard the words of his , he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his , " me, even me also, ." He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your ." He said, "Isn't he rightly named ? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my . See, now he has taken away my ." He said, "Haven't you reserved a for me?" answered , "Behold, I have made him your , and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and . What then will I do for you, my son?" said to his , "Do you have one , ? me, even me also, ." lifted up his voice, and wept. his answered him, "Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the of from above. You will live by your , and you will your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his from off your neck." hated because of the with which his him. said in , "The days of for are at hand. Then I will kill my brother ." The words of , her elder son, were told to . She sent and called , her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, . Arise, flee to , my brother, in . Stay with him days, until your brother's fury turns away— until your brother's turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" said to , "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of . If takes a wife of the daughters of , such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?"
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The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
All of Genesis