Genesis 25

Abraham Marries Keturah

1 Abraham married Keturah,2 and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.3 Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

4 Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
5-6 While Abraham was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of Hagar and Keturah. He also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son Isaac, and when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac.

The Death of Abraham

7-8 7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of one hundred seventy-five.9-10 t9-10 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebront in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah.11 God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” t

Ishmael’s Descendants

12 Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah.13 Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 Each of Ishmael’s sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.
17-18 Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sonst settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.t Ishmael was one hundred thirty-seven when he died.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 Isaac was the son of Abraham,20 and he was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria. t Almost twenty years later,

21 Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the Lord to let her have a child, and the Lord answered his prayer.
22 Before Rebekah gave birth, she knew she was going to have twins, because she could feel them inside her, fighting each other. She thought, “Why is this happening to me?” Finally, she asked the Lord why her twins were fighting,

23 t23 and he told her: “Your two sons will become
two separate nations. t The younger of the two
will be stronger,
and the older son
will be his servant.”

24 When Rebekah gave birth,25 the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.t26 The second baby grabbed on to his brother’s heel, so they named him Jacob.t Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son

27 As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob settled down and became a shepherd.

28 Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, and so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother’s favorite son.
29 One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, when Esau came home hungry

30 and said, “I’m starving to death! Give me some of that red stew right now!” That’s how Esau got the name “Edom.” t

31 Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.” t

32 “I’m about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”
33 t But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that’s what Esau did.

34 Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born.

Genesis 26

Isaac and Abimelech

1 Once during Abraham’s lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar,2 because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said: Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go.

3 t3 You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.
4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,t

5 because Abraham did everything I told him to do.
6 Isaac moved to Gerar7 t7 with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.8 After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah.

9 Abimelech called him in and said, “Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?” “Because I thought someone would kill me,” Isaac answered.

10 “Don’t you know what you’ve done?” Abimelech exclaimed. “If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!”

11 Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
12 Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him,13 and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich.14 In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned,15 and they stopped up the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug before his death.

16 Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”
17 Isaac left and settled in Gerar Valley,18 where he cleaned out those wells that the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac also gave each of the wells the same namet that Abraham had given to them.19 While his servants were digging in the valley, they found a spring-fed well.

20 But the shepherds of Gerar Valley quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them. So the well was named “Quarrel,” because they had quarreled with Isaac.
21 Isaac’s servants dug another well, and the shepherds also quarreled about it. So that well was named “Jealous.”

22 Finally, they dug one more well. There was no quarreling this time, and the well was named “Lots of Room,” because the Lord had given them room and would make them very successful.
23 Isaac went on to Beersheba,24 where the Lord appeared to him that night and told him, “Don’t be afraid! I am the God who was worshiped by your father Abraham, my servant. I will be with you and bless you, and because of Abraham I will give you many descendants.”

25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up camp, and his servants started digging a well.
26 t Meanwhile, Abimelech had left Gerar and was taking his advisor Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol to see Isaac.

27 When they arrived, Isaac asked, “Why are you here? Didn’t you send me away because you hated me?”
28 They answered, “We now know for certain that the Lord is with you, and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us. So let’s make a solemn agreement

29 not to harm each other. Remember, we have never hurt you, and when we sent you away, we let you go in peace. The Lord has truly blessed you.”
30 Isaac gave a big feast for them, and everyone ate and drank.

31 Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.
32 Later that same day Isaac’s servants came and said, “We’ve struck water!”33 So Isaac named the well Shibah,t and the town is still called Beersheba. t

Esau’s Foreign Wives

34 When Esau was forty, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 But these two women brought a lot of grief to his parents Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27

Isaac Blesses Jacob

1 After Isaac had become old and almost blind, he called in his first-born son Esau, who asked him, “Father, what can I do for you?”

2 Isaac replied, “I am old and might die at any time.3 So take your bow and arrows, then go out in the fields, and kill a wild animal.

4 Cook some of that tasty food that I love so much and bring it to me. I want to eat it once more and give you my blessing before I die.”
5 Rebekah had been listening, and as soon as Esau left to go hunting,6 she said to Jacob, “I heard your father tell Esau7 to kill a wild animal and cook some tasty food for your father before he dies. Your father said this because he wants to bless your brother with the Lord as his witness.8 Now, my son, listen carefully to what I want you to do.9 Go and kill two of your best young goats and bring them to me. I’ll cook the tasty food that your father loves so much.

10 Then you can take it to him, so he can eat it and give you his blessing before he dies.”
11 “My brother Esau is a hairy man,” Jacob reminded her. “And I am not.

12 If my father touches me and realizes I am trying to trick him, he will put a curse on me instead of giving me a blessing.”
13 Rebekah insisted, “Let his curse fall on me! Just do what I say and bring me the meat.”14 So Jacob brought the meat to his mother, and she cooked the tasty food that his father liked.15 Then she took Esau’s best clothes and put them on Jacob.16 She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins

17 and gave him some bread and the tasty food she had cooked.

18 Jacob went to his father and said, “Father, here I am.” “Which one of my sons are you?” his father asked.

19 Jacob replied, “I am Esau, your first-born, and I have done what you told me. Please sit up and eat the meat I have brought. Then you can give me your blessing.”

20 Isaac asked, “My son, how did you find an animal so quickly?” “The Lord your God was kind to me,” Jacob answered.
21 “My son,” Isaac said, “come closer, where I can touch you and find out if you really are Esau.”22 Jacob went closer. His father touched him and said, “You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau’s.”

23 And so Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau.

24 Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “Yes, I am,” Jacob answered.

25 So Isaac told him, “Serve me the wild meat, and I can give you my blessing.” Jacob gave him some meat, and he ate it. He also gave him some wine, and he drank it.26 Then Isaac said, “Son, come over here and kiss me.”

27 t27 While Jacob was kissing him, Isaac caught the smell of his clothes and said: “The smell of my son
is like a field
the Lord has blessed.

28 God will bless you, my son, with dew from heaven
and with fertile fields,
rich with grain and grapes.

29 t29Nations will be your servants and bow down to you.
You will rule over your brothers,
and they will kneel
at your feet.
Anyone who curses you
will be cursed;
anyone who blesses you
will be blessed.”

30 Right after Isaac had given Jacob his blessing and Jacob had gone, Esau came back from hunting.

31 He cooked the tasty food, brought it to his father, and said, “Father, please sit up and eat the meat I have brought you, so you can give me your blessing.”

32 “Who are you?” Isaac asked. “I am Esau, your first-born son.”

33 Isaac started trembling and said, “Then who brought me some wild meat right before you came in? I ate it and gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back.”

34 Esau cried loudly and begged, “Father, give me a blessing too!”

35 Isaac answered, “Your brother tricked me and stole your blessing.”

36 t Esau replied, “My brother deserves the name Jacob,t because he has already cheated me twice. The first time he cheated me out of my rights as the first-born son, and now he has cheated me out of my blessing.” Then Esau asked his father, “Don’t you still have any blessing left for me?”

37 “My son,” Isaac answered, “I have made Jacob the ruler over you and your brothers, and all of you will be his servants. I have also promised him all the grain and grapes that he needs. There’s nothing left that I can do for you.”

38 t “Father,” Esau asked, “don’t you have more than one blessing? You can surely give me a blessing too!” Then Esau started crying again.

39 t So his father said: “Your home will be far
from that fertile land,
where dew comes down
from the heavens.

40 t40You will live by the power of your sword
and be your brother’s slave.
But when you decide to be free,
you will break loose.”

41 Esau hated his brother Jacob because he had stolen the blessing that was supposed to be his. So he said to himself, “Just as soon as my father dies, I’ll kill Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and told him, “Son, your brother Esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you.43 Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran44 and stay with him for a while. When Esau stops being angry

45 and forgets what you have done to him, I’ll send for you to come home. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?” t

46 Rebekah later told Isaac, “Those Hittite wives of Esau are making my life miserable! If Jacob marries a Hittite woman, I’d be better off dead.”