You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives."

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.

Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Jacob deceived Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving.

In a dream that night God came to Laban and said to him, "Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way."

Our ancestor Jacob had to flee to Mesopotamia, where, in order to get a wife, he worked for another man and took care of his sheep.

Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."

Many times I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was not able to sleep.

The famine in Canaan got worse,

and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the grain which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Go back and buy a little food for us."

Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake.

God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive.

If you are in Goshen, I can take care of you. There will still be five years of famine; and I do not want you, your family, and your livestock to starve.' "

The LORD says, "Listen to me, you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help. Think of the rock from which you came, the quarry from which you were cut.

Think of your ancestor, Abraham, and of Sarah, from whom you are descended. When I called Abraham, he was childless, but I blessed him and gave him children; I made his descendants numerous.

Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

"I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there.

Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent.

his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters.

Then Jacob went to Egypt and settled in that country.

The LORD gave many children to his people and made them stronger than their enemies.

Then Jacob went to Egypt, where he and his sons died.

"The LORD did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth.

Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt, bringing to seventy the total number of Jacob's family who went there.

The total number of these people directly descended from Jacob was seventy. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.

When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children.

but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the farther they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites