Genesis 25–36

The Death and Descendants of Abraham

25Now Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. ²And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³And Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. ⁴And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All of these were the children of Keturah. ⁵And Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. ⁶But to the sons of Abraham’s concubines Abraham gave gifts. And while he was still living he sent them away eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the east. ⁷Now these are the days of the years of the life of Abraham:^a one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸And Abraham passed away and died in a good old age, old and full of years. And he was gathered to his people. ⁹And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite, that was east of Mamre, ¹⁰the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites.^b There Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife. ¹¹And it happened that after the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac settled at Beer-Lahai-Roi.

¹²Now these are the generations^c of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, that Hagar the Egyptian, the female slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham. ¹³And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their family records. The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their villages and by their encampments—12 leaders according to their tribes. ¹⁷Now these are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. And he passed away and died, and was gathered to his people.¹⁸They settled from Havilah to Shur, which was opposite^d Egypt, going toward Assyria; he settled^e opposite^f all his brothers.

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹Now these are the generations^g of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac, ²⁰And Isaac was forty years old^h when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, as his wife. ²¹And Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife, for she was barren. And Yahweh responded to his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²And the children in her womb jostled each other, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, why be pregnant?”ⁱ And she went to inquire of Yahweh. ²³And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from birth^j shall be divided. And one people shall be stronger than the other.^k And the elder shall serve the younger.” ²⁴And when her days to give birth were completed,^l then—behold—twins were in her womb. ²⁵And the first came out red, all his body^m was like a hairy coat, so they called his name Esau. ²⁶And afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years oldⁿ at their birth. ²⁷And the boys grew up. And Esau was a skilled^o hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. ²⁸And Isaac loved Esau because he could eat of his game,^p but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹Once^q Jacob cooked a thick stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. ³⁰And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff^r to gulp down, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom). ³¹Then Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright first.”^{s 32}And Esau said, “Look, I am going to die; now what is this birthright to me?” ³³Then Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”^t And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau bread, and thick lentil stew, and he ate and drank. Then he got up and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. ²And Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I will show to you. ³Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, ⁵because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶So Isaac settled in Gerar. ⁷When the men of the place asked concerning his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking^a “the men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she was beautiful.”^{b 8}And it happened that, when he had been there a long time,^c Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked through the window, and saw—behold—Isaac was fondling Rebekah his wife. ⁹And Abimelech called Isaac^d and said, “Surely she is your wife. Now why did you say ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I would die on account of her.” ¹⁰And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife! Then you would have brought guilt upon us!” ¹¹Then Abimelech instructed all the people, saying, “The one who touches this man or his wife shall certainly die.”

¹²And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in that same year a hundredfold, and Yahweh blessed him. ¹³And the man became wealthier and wealthier^e until he was exceedingly wealthy. ¹⁴And he possessed sheep and cattle and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵And the Philistines stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father. They filled them with earth. ¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you have become much too powerful for us.” ¹⁷So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there. ¹⁸And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham. And he gave^f to them the same names^g which his father had given^h them. ¹⁹And when the servants of Isaac dug in the valley, they found a well of fresh water there. ²⁰Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours.” And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹And they dug another well, and they quarreled over it also. And he called its name Sitnah. ²²Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. And he called its name Rehoboth, and said, “Now Yahweh has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” ²³And from there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴And Yahweh appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and I will bless you and make your descendants numerous for the sake of my servant Abraham.” ²⁵And he built an altar there and called on the name of Yahweh. And he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Isaac dug a well there. ²⁶Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol his army commander. ²⁷And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you.” ²⁸And they said, “We see clearly that Yahweh has been with you, so we thoughtⁱ let there be an oath between us—between us and you—and let us make^j a covenant with you ²⁹that you may not do us harm just as we have not touched you, but have only done good to you and sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by Yahweh.” ³⁰So he made a meal for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹And they arose early in the morning and each one swore to the other,^k and Isaac sent them away. And they left him in peace. ³²And it happened that on that same day the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug. And they said, “We have found water!” ³³And he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

³⁴And when Esau was forty years old^l he took as wife Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵And they made life bitter^m for Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob Steals Esau’s Blessing

27And it happened that when Isaac was old and his eyesight was weak,^a he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he^b said to him, “Here I am.” ²And he said, “Look, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. ³So now, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt food for me. ⁴Then make for me tasty food like I love, and bring it to me. And I will eat it so that I^c can bless you before I die.

⁵Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to Esau his son, and when Esau went to the field to hunt wild game to bring back, ⁶Rebekah said to Jacob her son, “Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother saying, ⁷‘Bring wild game to me and prepare tasty food so I can eat it and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ ⁸So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I command you. ⁹Go to the flock and take two good young goats from it for me, and I will prepare them as tasty food for your father, just as he likes. ¹⁰Then you must take it to your father and he will eat it so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹Then Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth man. ¹²Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes as a mocker, and he will bring upon me a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³Then his mother said to him, “Your curse be upon me, my son, only listen to my voice—go and get them for me.” ¹⁴So he went and took them, and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared tasty food as his father liked. ¹⁵Then Rebekah…