January 13: Genesis 36:1–19; 1 Chronicles 1:35–37; Genesis 36:20–30; 1 Chronicles1:38–42; Genesis 36:31–43; 1 Chronicles 1:43–1 Chronicles 2:2

Esau's Descendants – Genesis 36 & 1 Chronicles 1:35–37

• An account is given of the descendants of Esau, also known as Edom.
• With not enough land to support both Esau and Jacob, Esau took his wives, children, and everything he had acquired in the land of Canaan and moved to the hill country of Seir.
• Esau has sons by three wives: Eliphaz by wife Adah; Reuel by wife Basemath; and Jerush, Jalam, and Korah by wife Oholibamah.

Original Peoples of Edom – Genesis 36:20–30 & 1 Chronicles 1:38–42

• An account is given of the tribes that descended from Seir the Horite.

Rulers of Edom – Genesis 36:31–43 & 1 Chronicles 1:43–54

• An account is given of the rulers in Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites.

Descendants of Israel – 1 Chronicles 2:1–2

• The sons of Israel were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

January 12: Genesis 32:1 – Genesis 35:27

Jacob Fears Esau – Genesis 32

• As Jacob starts on his way again, angels of God appear to him.
• Jacob sends messengers ahead to his brother Esau, hoping that Esau will be friendly to him. The messengers return with word that Esau is coming to meet Jacob—with an army of four hundred men.
• Jacob splits his household and flocks in two, hoping Esau will only be able to attack one. He then prays, since God told him to return to his land. He asks that the Lord rescue him from Esau. Then he selects gifts for his brother from his flocks and other livestock. He has his servants take the animals and go ahead to meet Esau.

Jacob Wrestles with God

• During the night, Jacob sends his wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons across the Jabbok River. Then he sends over all his possessions. He is now alone in the camp.
• A man comes and wrestles with Jacob until dawn. When the man sees that he would not win the match, he touches Jacob's hip and wrenches it from its socket. Then the man asks Jacob to let him go. Jacob says he won't let go until the man blesses him.
• The man asks his name, and Jacob tells him. The man then tells him his name is no longer Jacob, but is now Israel, because he has fought with God and men and has won.
• Jacob asks his name, and the man asks him why he wants to  know his name and then blesses him. 
• Jacob names the place where this happened Peniel, meaning "face of God" (Jacob says he has seen God face to face but his life has been spared). 
• Jacob leaves Peniel when the sun rises, limping due to his injury. (Even today the people of Israel don't eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened to Jacob.)

Jacob Meets Esau – Genesis 33

• Jacob looks up and sees Esau coming with his four hundred men. He divides the children among his wives: the servants wives and their children first, then Leah and her children, and then Rachel and her children.
• Jacob goes ahead of them and bows before Esau. Esau runs to him, embraces him, and kisses him. They both weep. 
• Esau asks who the women and children are, and Jacob tells him they are his wives and children. He has the women and children come forward and bow before Esau. Esau then asks about the flocks and animals sent before them, and Jacob tells him they were a gift for him.
• Esau tells Jacob that he has plenty, and that Jacob should keep what he has. Jacob insists he take the gift, and Esau eventually agrees and tells Jacob to follow him home.
• Jacob tells Esau to go ahead, as he doesn't want to harm any of his children or animals by driving them too long. Esau agrees, but leaves some of his men to guard them.
• Esau returns to Seir, and Jacob travels to Succoth, where he builds himself a house and shelters for his livestock. Later, Jacob travels to Shechem and sets up camp outside town. He buys land there and builds and altar to the Lord.

The Defiling of Dinah – Genesis 34

• Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, goes to visit some young women who live in the area. The local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, seizes her and rapes her. Then he falls in love with her and tries to win her affection with tender words. Shechem tells his father that he wants to marry Dinah.
• Jacob learns what has happened to Dinah, and since his sons are all out in the fields, he says nothing until they return. Hamor comes to discuss the matter with Jacob, and while they are speaking, Jacob's sons return. They are furious about what has happened.
• Hamor claims that Shechem loves Dinah and wants to marry her, and proposes that Jacob's sons and daughters marry with his sons and daughters. Shechem then asks Jacob if he can marry Dinah.
• Jacob's sons respond deceitfully since Shechem has defiled their sister. They tell Hamor and Shechem that they could not allow the marriage because the men are not circumcised, and agree that if all their men will be circumcised, they will agree to marriage.
• Hamor and Shechem agree, believing that marriage will allow them to becomes owners of Jacob's families livestock and possessions. All the men in the town agree to their circumcision, believing it will give them a way to get to Jacob's possessions, and it is carried out.
• Three days later, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi (Dinah's full brothers) take their swords and enter the town without opposition (the men are all healing). They kill every male there, including Hamor and Shechem, then take Dinah from Shechem's house and return to their camp.
• The rest of Jacob's sons arrive in town, and finding all the men dead, they plunder the town and take all the possessions and livestock they can find. They also take the women and children of the town as captives.
• When they return to Jacob, he tells Simeon and Levi that they have ruined him, and that the Canaanites and Perizzites will destroy them.
• The brothers ask why they should let their sister be treated like a prostitute.

God Blesses and Renames Jacob – Genesis 35

• God tells Jacob to move to Bethel, settle there, and build an altar to the Lord. Jacob tells everyone in the household to get rid of their idols, purify themselves, and put on clean clothing. Jacob buries their pagan idols and earrings under a tree in Shechem. As they leave, fear spreads over the people, and they allow Jacob's family to leave.
• Jacob and his family eventually reach Bethel, in Canaan. There he builds an altar. Soon after, Rebekah's old nurse, Deborah, dies and she is buried.
• God appears to Jacob and blesses him, telling him he will now be called Israel. God tells him to be fruitful and multiply, and that he will become a great nation and God will give him the lands that once belonged to Abraham and Isaac.
• Jacob sets up a stone to mark where God spoke to him. He pours wine over it as an offering and anoints the pillar with olive oil. He names the place Bethel, which means "house of God."

The Death of Rachel

• Jacobs clan leaves to move to Ephrath (Bethelehem). Rachel goes into labor while they are traveling, and after a hard delivery, the midwife tells her she has another son. With her last words, Rachel names him Ben-Oni (which means "son of my sorrow"). Jacob renames him Benjamin, meaning "son of my right hand." 
• Rachel dies and is buried on the way to Ephrath. Jacob sets up a stone monument over her grave.
• Reuben, Jacob and Leah's son, has intercourse with Bilhah, his father's servant wife, and Jacob hears about it. (He does this to assert himself as principal heir, but this act later causes him to lose the blessing he desired.)
• Jacob returns to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners.

January 10: Genesis 28:6 – Genesis 30:24

Esau Marries an Ishmaelite – Genesis 28

• Esau, angry at his father Isaac and his brother Jacob over not receiving his blessing, learns that Isaac sent Jacob away so he would not marry a Canaanite woman.
• To try to make his father happy, Esau visits his uncle Ishmael's family and marries one of his daughters, in addition to the wives he already has.

Jacob's Dream

• Jacob leaves Beersheba and journeys toward Haran. One night, he dreams of a ladder reaching up to heaven with angels traveling up and down it.
• God is standing at the top of the ladder, and he tells Jacob that the land he is standing on belonged to his ancestors, and that God will give it to him and his descendants. God also tells him that He will be with Jacob and will bless his descendants.
• Jacob gets up the next morning, sets the rock he used as a pillow for an upright memorial pillar, and pours olive oil over it, calling the place Bethel.
• Jacob vows that if God will protect him on his journey, He will be his God.

Jacob Arrives in Paddan-Aram – Genesis 29

• Jacob arrives in Paddan-Aram and sees flocks of sheep and goats in an open field near a well. Jacob asks the shepherds where they are from, and when they say they are from Haran, he asks if they know Laban, his mother Rebekah's brother.
• They tell him they do know Laban, and that his daughter Rachel is coming with her flock of sheep (she was a shepherd).
• Jacob encourages them to remove the stone from the well to water the sheep and goats, but the shepherds tell him it is tradition to wait until all animals have reached the well before the well is opened. Since the sheep belong to Jacob's uncle, Jacob opens the well and watered the flock. He then kisses Rachel, weeps aloud, and tells her he is her cousin. She runs home to her father to tell him.
• Laban runs out to meet him and brings him back to the house.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel – Genesis 29

• After Jacob has stayed with Laban for about a month, Laban tells him he shouldn't be working for him for free just because he's family, and he asks Jacob how much his wages should be.
• Jacob is in love with Rachel, the younger of Laban's daughters, so he tells Laban he will work for him for seven years if he'll allow him to marry Rachel.
• Jacob works hard for seven years, and Laban agrees that he and Rachel can marry, But after it is dark, Laban takes Leah (who is not beautiful like Rachel) in to Jacob instead. In the morning, Jacob realizes what Laban has done and asks why Laban has tricked him.
• Laban explains that it is not their custom to marry off a younger daughter before an older daughter. He then offers Rachel to Jacob if Jacob will work for him for another seven years.
• A week after his marriage to Leah, Jacob is given Rachel as a wife as well, and he stays and works for Laban for seven more years.

Jacob's Children 

• God sees that Jacob does not love Leah like he loves Rachel, so He enables Leah to have many children while Rachel is barren. Within a few years, Leah bears Jacob four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
• Rachel becomes jealous and tells Jacob to take her maid, Bilhah, as another wife so Rachel can have children through her. Bilhah bears a son, whom Rachel names Dan. Bilhah has another son with Jacob, whom Rachel names Naphtali.
• Leah realizes she isn't getting pregnant anymore, and she has her maid, Zilpah, become another wife for Jacob so Leah can have more children through her. Zilpah then has two sons: Gad and Asher,
• Rachel allows Leah to sleep with Jacob one night, and over a few years she bears Jacob two sons and a daughter: Issachar, Zebulon, and Dinah.
• God remembers Rachel's plight, and she becomes pregnant. She bears Jacob a son, whom she names Joseph. 

January 9: Genesis 25:27 – Genesis 28:5

Esau Sells His Birthright – Genesis 25:27–34

• Jacob and Esau grow up. Esau becomes a skilled hunter, while Jacob prefers staying at home. Jacob loves Esau, while Rebekah loves Jacob.
• Esau arrives home from hunting, very hungry, while Jacob is cooking stew. He asks Jacob for some stew, and Jacob agrees if Esau will give him his birthright.
• Esau agrees, and trades his birthright for bread and lentil stew, showing contempt for his rights as firstborn. He then leaves the tent.

God's Promise to Isaac – Genesis 26

• A famine strikes the land where Isaac is living, so he moves to Gerar, where Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, lives.
• The Lord appears to Isaac and tells him not to go to Egypt, but to stay as a foreigner in Gerar, and He will bless him and give him the lands for him and his descendants.
• Isaac stays in Gerar, and when people ask him about his wife, Rebekah, he tells them that she is his sister, because he is afraid they will kill him if he admits that she is his wife.
• One day Abimelech sees Jacob caressing Rebekah, and calls Jacob to him, asking him why he has lied, since she is obviously his wife and not his sister.
• Jacob admits that he was afraid, and Abimelech questions how he could have lied and put Abimelech or another man at risk for great sin if they'd taken his wife and slept with her. Abimelech issues a public proclamation that any man who touches Rebekah will be put to death.

Isaac and Abimelech

• Isaac plants his crops and then harvests a hundred times more than he planted because the Lord blessed him. He becomes a very rich man, and acquires many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants.
• The Philistines become jealous of him and fill his wells, which had been dug by the servants of Abraham, with dirt. Finally, Abimelech orders Isaac to leave because he has become to powerful for them.
• Isaac moves to the Gerar Valley. He has his servants reopen his wells, and the servants also open a well in the Gerar Valley. Shepherds from Gerar claim the well belongs to them, and Isaac has his men dig another well, but the shepherds again dispute the well. Isaac's servants dig another well, and this time the shepherds don't dispute the well.
• Isaac moves to Beersheba, and God appears to him that night. He tells Jacob he will be with him and bless him because of his promise to Abraham. Isaac builds and altar there and worships the Lord. His servants dig another well.

A Treaty with Abimelech

• One day Abimelech, his adviser Ahuzzath, and his army commander Phicol visit Isaac.
• Isaac asks why they have come there since they have removed him from his land in Gerar and obviously hate him.
• They respond that they can see the Lord is with him and they want to make a covenant with him. They ask that Jacob will not cause them any harm, pointing out that they sent him away in peace and God has blessed him.
• Isaac prepares a covenant feast, and the next morning they take an oath not to interfere with each other. The men then leave Jacob in peace.
• The next morning, Isaac's servants return to him with word that they have dug another well (called Beersheba) and found water.
• At the age of forty, Esau marries two Hittite wives, Judith and Basemath. Esau's wives make life difficult for Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Blesses Jacob – Genesis 27

• Isaac, who is old and becoming blind, calls for Esau and tells him to go and hunt some wild game and prepare his favorite dish for him. Isaac will then bless Esau.
• Rebekah overhears them. She has Jacob go and get two young goats from their herds so she can prepare Isaac's favorite dish, then has him take the food to his father so Isaac will bless him instead.
• Rebekah dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes and covers Jacob's arms and neck with the skin of the young goats (so he will feel like Esau) and has him take the food to his father.
• Isaac asks which son he is, and Jacob claims he is Esau. Though Jacob doesn't sound like Esau, when Isaac feels his arms and smells his clothes, he believes he is Esau.
• Isaac blesses Jacob, and soon after Jacob leaves his father, Esau returns from his hunt and learns his father, who was deceived, has blessed Jacob instead. Esau asks that Jacob bless him as well, but Isaac cannot because he has nothing left to give Esau. 
• Esau is upset that Jacob has stolen both his birthright and his blessing.

Jacob Sent to Laban – Genesis 27:41 to Genesis 28:5

• Esau plans to kill Jacob, but Rebekah overhears his plan. She tells Jacob to flee to her brother Laban and stay there until Esau's rage has waned and she calls him back to them.
• Rebekah tells Isaac that she doesn't want Jacob to marry a local Hittite woman, and Isaac calls Jacob to him and tells him to go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of his grandfather, and marry one of his uncle Laban's daughters.
• Jacob goes to Paddan-Aram to live with Laban.

January 8: Genesis 25:1–4; 1 Chronicles 25:5–6; Genesis 25:12-18; 1 Chronicles 1:28–31; 1 Chronicles 34; Genesis 25:19–26; Genesis 25:7–11

Abraham's Descendants – Genesis 25:1–6 & 1 Chronicles 1:32–33

• Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, who bears him six sons. Even so, Abraham gives all he has to Isaac. 
• To the sons of his concubines Abraham gives gifts, and then he sends them away from Isaac, eastward to the east country. 

Ishmael's Descendants – Genesis 25:12–18 & 1 Chronicles 1:28–31

• Ishmael has twelve sons, who become twelve princes according to their tribes. They settle from Havilah to Shur.
• Ishmael later dies at the age of 137 years.

Isaac's Descendants – 1 Chronicles 1:34 & Genesis 25:19–26

• Isaac pleads with the Lord because his wife, Rebekah, is barren. God answers his prayers, and Rebekah becomes pregnant. The twins battle in her womb, and Rebekah questions God what is going on.
• God tells her that her sons will become rival nations and that one will be stronger than the other, with her older son serving the younger.
• When her sons are born, the first is red in color and covered with thick hair. She names him Esau. His twin was born grasping Esau's heel, so they named him Jacob (or Israel).

Abraham's Death – Genesis 25:7–11

• Abraham dies as the age of 175 years. Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, where Abraham buried Sarah.
• God blesses Isaac, who settles near Beer-lahai-roi.