² Then the Lord said to me, ³ “You have made your way around this hill country long enough;^(A) now turn north. ⁴ Give the people these orders:^(B) ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau,^(C) who live in Seir.^(D) They will be afraid^(E) of you, but be very careful. ⁵ Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.^{(F) 6} You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

⁷ The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched^(G) over your journey through this vast wilderness.^(H) These forty years^(I) the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.^(J)

⁸ So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from^(K) the Arabah^(L) road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber,^(M) and traveled along the desert road of Moab.^(N)

⁵ Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering^(A) Aramean,^(B) and he went down into Egypt with a few people^(C) and lived there and became a great nation,^(D) powerful and numerous.

Abram in Egypt^(A)

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land,^(B) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.^{(C) 11} As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,^(D) “I know what a beautiful woman^(E) you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister,^(F) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.^{(G) 15} And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.^(H)

¹⁷ But the Lord inflicted^(I) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household^(J) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”^(K) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?^{(L) 19} Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’^(M) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ This is the account^(A) of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old^(B) when he married Rebekah^(C) daughter of Bethuel^(D) the Aramean from Paddan Aram^[a](E) and sister of Laban^(F) the Aramean.^(G)

²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.^(H) The Lord answered his prayer,^(I) and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.^(J)

²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When the time came for her to give birth,^(M) there were twin boys in her womb.^{(N) 25} The first to come out was red,^(O) and his whole body was like a hairy garment;^(P) so they named him Esau.^{[b](Q) 26} After this, his brother came out,^(R) with his hand grasping Esau’s heel;^(S) so he was named Jacob.^[c](T) Isaac was sixty years old^(U) when Rebekah gave birth to them.

⁹ This is the account^(G) of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites^(H) in the hill country of Seir.

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba,^(A) and Israel’s^(B) sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts^(C) that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. ⁶ So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt,^(D) taking with them their livestock and the possessions^(E) they had acquired^(F) in Canaan. ⁷ Jacob brought with him to Egypt^(G) his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.^(H)

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen.^(A) They acquired property there^(B) and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.^(C)