²¹Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.^q The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^r ²²But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”^H So she went to inquire of the Lord.^s ²³And the Lord said to her:

Two nations are in your womb;

two peoples will come from you and be separated.

One people will be stronger than the other,^t

and the older will serve the younger.^u

²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.^v ²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand.^w So he was named Jacob.^K^x Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman,^L but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.^M ²⁸Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.^y

²⁹Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. ³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.^N

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Footnotes

H said, “If thus, why this I?”
K He Grasps the Heel
L a man of the field
M man living in tents
N Red

Cross references

q Gn 11:30; 29:31; Ex 23:26; Jdg 13:2–3; 1Sm 2:5; Jb 24:21; Is 54:1; Lk 1:36; 23:29; Gl 4:27; Heb 11:11
r 1Sm 1:17; 1Ch 5:20; 2Ch 33:13; Ezr 8:23; Ps 127:3; Rm 9:10
s 1Sm 9:9; 10:22
t 2Sm 8:14; Ob 18–21
u Gn 27:29; Mal 1:2–3; Rm 9:12
v Gn 27:11,16,23
w Hs 12:3
x Gn 27:36
y Gn 27:4–9