Genesis 23

The Death of Sarah

1 Sarah lived 127 years.t

2 Then shet died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.s
3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wifet and said to the sons of Heth,t

4 “I am a temporary settlert among you. Grantt me ownershipt of a burial site among you so that I mayt bury my dead.”t
5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham,t

6 “Listen, sir,t you are a mighty princet among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent yout from burying your dead.”
7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people,t the sons of Heth.8 Then he said to them, “If you agreet that I may bury my dead,t then hear me out.t Askt Ephron the son of Zohar

9 if he will sellt me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publiclyt for the full price,t so that I may own it as a burial site.”
10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethitet replied to Abraham in the hearingt of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gates of his city –

11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sellt you both the field and the cave that is in it.t In the presence of my peoplet I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”
12 Abraham bowed before the local people

13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I payt to you the pricet of the field. Take it from me so that I mayt bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is wortht 400 pieces of silver,s but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s pricet and weighedt out for himt the pricet that Ephron had quotedt in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.t
17 So Abraham securedt Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border,

18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city.ts
19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial sitet from the sons of Heth.

Genesis 24

The Wife for Isaac

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years,t and the Lord had blessed himt in everything.2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior onet in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thighs3 so that I may make you solemnly promiset by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquiret a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

4 You must go instead to my country and to my relativest to findt a wife for my son Isaac.”

5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with met to this land? Must I thent take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6 “Be carefult never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him.t7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives,t promised me with a solemn oath,t ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angelt before you so that you may findt a wife for my son from there.8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you,t you will be frees from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes.t
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal.t He journeyedt to the region of Aram Naharaimts and the city of Nahor.11 He made the camels kneel down by the wellt outside the city. It was evening,t the time when the women would go out to draw water.12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today.t Be faithfult to my master Abraham.13 Here I am, standing by the spring,t and the daughters of the peoplet who live in the town are coming out to draw water.

14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’s In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.”t
15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekaht with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor).t16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her.t She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.17 Abraham’s servantt ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly loweringt her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.19 When she had done so,t she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.”20 She quickly emptiedt her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels.

21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determinet if the Lord had made his journey successfult or not.
22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekas and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekelss and gave them to her.t

23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked.t “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.t

25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added,t “and room for yout to spend the night.”
26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord,

27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful lovet for my master! The Lord has led met to the houset of my master’s relatives!”t
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all aboutt these things.29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.)t Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ringt and heard his sister Rebekah say,t “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standingt by the camels near the spring.

31 Laban said to him,t “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord!s Why are you standing out here when I have preparedt the house and a place for the camels?”
32 So Abraham’s servantt went to the house and unloadedt the camels. Straw and feed were givent to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet.t

33 When food was served,t he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.”t “Tell us,” Laban said.st
34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy.t The Lordt has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to himt when she was old,t and my mastert has given him everything he owns.37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to findt a wife for my son.’39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to got with me?’t40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked,t will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.41 You will be free from your oatht if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful,t may events unfold as follows:t43 Here I am, standing by the spring.t Whent the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.”

44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart,t along came Rebekaht with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’t I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughtert of my master’s brother for his son.

49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.”t
50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing.t Our wishes are of no concern.t

51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may becomet the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”t
52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.53 Then het brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.t
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”t55 But Rebekah’st brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.”56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lordt has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may returnt to my master.”57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”t

58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you wantt to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:t
“Our sister, may you become the motherts of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholdst of their enemies.”

61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away witht the man. So Abraham’s servantt took Rebekah and left.
62 Nowt Isaac came fromt Beer Lahai Roi,s fort he was living in the Negev.ts63 Het went out to relaxt in the field in the early evening.t Then he looked upt and saw thatt there were camels approaching.64 Rebekah looked upt and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel

65 and askedt Abraham’s servant,t “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied.t So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.

67 Then Isaac brought Rebekaht into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took hert as his wife and loved her.t So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.t

Genesis 25

The Death of Abraham

1 Abraham had takents anothert wife, named Keturah.2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan.s The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendantst of Keturah.
5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac.

6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubinest and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac.t
7 Abraham lived a total oft 175 years.8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life.t He joined his ancestors.t9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelahs near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite.10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth.t There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

11 After Abraham’s death, God blesseds his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.s

The Sons of Ishmael

12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael,s whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records:t Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princest according to their clans.
17 Ishmael lived a total oft 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors.t

18 His descendantst settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs nextt to Egypt all the wayt to Asshur.s They settledt away from all their relatives.t

Jacob and Esau

19 This is the account of Isaac,s the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac.

20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah,t the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.s
21 Isaac prayed tot the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.22 But the children struggledt inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!”t So she asked the Lord,s

23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nationss are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth,t there weret twins in her womb.25 The first came out reddishs all over,t like a hairys garment, so they named him Esau.t

26 When his brother came out witht his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob.ts Isaac was sixty years oldt when they were born.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilledt hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.t

28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game,t but Rebekah lovedt Jacob.
29 Now Jacob cooked some stew,s and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feedt me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also calledt Edom.)s
31 But Jacob replied, “Firstt sell me your birthright.”32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?”t

33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.”t So Esaut swore an oath to him and sold his birthrights to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out.s So Esau despised his birthright.s