Genesis 25–36

25TH CHAPTER

Abraham’s Second Marriage and His Death—1 Chronicles 1:32–33

¹Abraham married again, and his wife’s name was Keturah. ²Keturah gave birth to these sons of Abraham: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Assyrians, the Letushites, and the Leummites. ⁴The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were the descendants of Keturah. 

⁵Abraham left everything he had to Isaac. ⁶But while he was still living, Abraham had given gifts to the sons of his concubines.^aHe sent them away from his son Isaac to a land in the east. 

⁷Abraham lived 175 years. ⁸Then he took his last breath, and died at a very old age. After a long and full life, he joined his ancestors in death. ⁹His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite. The cave is east of Mamre. ¹⁰This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer Lahai Roi. 

The 12 Tribes of Ishmael—1 Chronicles 1:29–31

¹²This is the account of the descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. He was the son of Sarah’s Egyptian slave Hagar and Abraham. ¹³These are the names of the sons of Ishmael listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael and their names listed by their settlements and camps—12 leaders of their tribes. 

¹⁷Ishmael lived 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death. ¹⁸His descendants lived as nomads from the region of Havilah to Shur, which is near Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. They all fought with each other. 

Esau and Jacob

¹⁹This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants. Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²²When the children inside her were struggling with each other, she said, “If it’s like this now, what will become of me?”So she went to ask the Lord. 

²³The Lord said to her, 

“Two countries are in your womb. 

Two nations will go their separate ways from birth. 

One nation will be stronger than the other, 

and the older will serve the younger.” 

²⁴When the time came for her to give birth, she had twins. ²⁵The first one born was red. His whole body was covered with hair, so they named him Esau ^[Hairy^[. ²⁶Afterwards, his brother was born with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, and so he was named Jacob ^[Heel^[. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born. 

²⁷They grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman. Jacob remained a quiet man, staying around the tents. ²⁸Because Isaac liked to eat the meat of wild animals, he loved Esau. However, Rebekah loved Jacob. 

²⁹Once, Jacob was preparing a meal when Esau, exhausted, came in from outdoors. ³⁰So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me have the whole pot of red stuff to eat—that red stuff—I’m exhausted.” This is why he was called Edom.^c

³¹Jacob responded, “First, sell me your rights as firstborn.” 

³²“I’m about to die.” Esau said. “What good is my inheritance to me?” 

³³“First, swear an oath,” Jacob said. So Esau swore an oath to him and sold him his rights as firstborn. ³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau a meal of bread and lentils. He ate and drank, and then he got up and left. 

This is how Esau showed his contempt for his rights as firstborn. 

26TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s First Promise to Isaac

¹There was a famine in the land in addition to the earlier one during Abraham’s time. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in Gerar. 

²The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay where I tell you. ³Live here in this land for a while, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and give all these lands to your descendants. Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ⁵I will bless you because Abraham obeyed me and completed the duties, commands, laws, and instructions I gave him.” ⁶So Isaac lived in Gerar. 

Isaac and Rebekah at Gerar

⁷When the men of that place asked about his wife, Isaac answered, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “my wife.” He thought that the men of that place would kill him to get Rebekah, because she was an attractive woman. ⁸When he had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of his window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 

⁹Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “So she’s really your wife! How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?” 

Isaac answered him, “I thought I would be killed because of her.” 

¹⁰Then Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of the people might have easily gone to bed with your wife, and then you would have made us guilty of sin.” ¹¹So Abimelech ordered his people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.” 

¹²Isaac planted ⸤crops⸥ in that land. In that same year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him. ¹³He continued to be successful, becoming very rich. ¹⁴Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him. ¹⁵So the Philistines filled in all the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. 

¹⁶Finally, Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.” 

¹⁷So Isaac moved away. He set up his tents in the Gerar Valley and lived there. ¹⁸He dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. The Philistines had filled them in after Abraham’s death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them. 

¹⁹Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a spring-fed well. ²⁰The herders from Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herders, claiming, “This water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek ^[Argument^[, because they had argued with him. ²¹Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one too. So Isaac named it Sitnah ^[Accusation^[. ²²He moved on from there and dug another well. They didn’t quarrel over this one. So he named it Rehoboth ^[Roomy^[ and said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in this land.” 

The Lord’s Second Promise to Isaac

²³He went from there to Beersheba. ²⁴That night the Lord appeared to Isaac, and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you and increase the number of your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵So Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He also pitched his tent in that place, and his servants dug a well there. 

Isaac’s Agreement with Abimelech

²⁶Abimelech, his friend Ahuzzath, and Phicol, the commander of his army, came from Gerar to see Isaac. ²⁷Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from you?” 

²⁸They answered, “We have seen that the Lord is with you. So we thought, ‘There should be a solemn agreement between us.’ We’d like to make an agreement with you ²⁹that you will not harm us, since we have not touched you. We have done only good to you and let you go in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” 

³⁰Isaac prepared a special dinner for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left peacefully. 

³²That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a well they had dug. They said to him, “We’ve found water.” ³³So he named it Shibah ^[Oath^[. That is why the name of the city is still Beersheba today. 

Esau’s Marriages

³⁴When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite. He also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵These women brought Isaac and Rebekah a lot of grief. 

27TH CHAPTER

Jacob Gets Isaac’s Blessing

¹When Isaac was old and going blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!” 

Esau answered, “Here I am.” 

²Isaac said, “I’m old. I don’t know when I’m going to die. ³Now take your hunting equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open country and hunt some wild game for me. ⁴Prepare a good-tasting meal for me, just the way I like it. Bring it to me to eat so that I will bless you before I die.” 

⁵Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. When Esau went into the open country to hunt for some wild game to bring back, ⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I’ve just heard your father speaking to your brother Esau. ⁷He said, ‘Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat so that I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ ⁸Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you. ⁹Go to the flock, and get me two good young goats. I’ll prepare them as a good-tasting meal for your father, just the way he likes it. ¹⁰Then take it to your father to eat so that he will bless you before he dies.” 

¹¹Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.^a12My father will feel ⸤my skin⸥ and think I’m mocking him. Then I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 

¹³His mother responded, “Let any curse on you fall on me, Son. Just obey me and go! Get me ⸤the young goats⸥.” 

¹⁴He went and got them and brought them to his mother. She prepared a good-tasting meal, just the way his father liked it. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s good clothes, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶She put the skins from the young…