The story in brief
Twins who fight from the womb. A younger son takes his brother’s birthright for a bowl of stew and his blessing with a pair of goatskins, then runs for twenty years. Jacob’s ladder, a bride switched in the dark, and a night wrestling a stranger by the river Jabbok.
The chapters
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Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
A Bowl of Red Stew
Twins fight before they are born. Then one sells his inheritance for a bowl of stew.
Sources: Genesis 24 (summary); 25:19–34; Deuteronomy 21:17
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Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
The Stolen Blessing
A blind father, a son in goatskins, and a blessing that cannot be taken back.
Sources: Genesis 26:34–28:9; 37:31
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Chapter 3 · 5 min
Jacob’s Ladder
A runaway dreams of a stairway to heaven, then meets an uncle cleverer than he is.
Sources: Genesis 28:10–29:30; 1 Kings 12:29
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Chapter 4 · 5 min
Speckled and Spotted
Two sisters, eleven sons, ten pay cuts and a stolen set of gods.
Sources: Genesis 29:31–31:55
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Chapter 5 · 5 min
Wrestling with God
Esau is coming with four hundred men. That night, a stranger wrestles Jacob until dawn.
Sources: Genesis 32:1–33:20; 35:1–29; Hosea 12:4; Luke 15:20; Jeremiah 31:15; John 4:5–6
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- Abraham’s ServantSteward · Matchmaker · Man of Prayer
- RebekahBride at the Well · Mother of Twins · Keeper of the Oracle
- LeahElder Daughter · Unloved Wife · Mother of Judah
- LabanThe Aramean · Sheep Lord · Master Bargainer
- RachelShepherdess · Beloved Wife · Mother of Joseph
- EsauHunter · Firstborn · Father of Edom
What you’ll be able to tell
This story belongs to the journey “The Promise”. By the end of it, you can tell why three religions call Abraham their father, and how Jacob got the name Israel.
Stories in this journey
- Abraham: Father of Nations
- Jacob: The Stolen Blessing
Sources
- Genesis 24; 25:19–33:20; 35:1–29
Bible quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.
