Genesis 24:52–26:16

52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he abowed himself to the ground 1before the Lord.

53 The servant brought out aarticles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “aSend me away to my master.”

55 But her brother and her mother said, “aLet the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.”

56 He said to them, “Do not delay me, since athe Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

57 And they said, “We will call the girl and 1consult her wishes.”

58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

59 Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and aher nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister,

aBecome thousands of ten thousands,

And may byour 1descendants possess

The gate of those who hate them.”

61 Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

62 Now Isaac had come from going to aBeer-lahai-roi; for he 1was living in bthe 2Negev.

63 Isaac went out ato 1meditate in the field toward evening; and bhe lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.

64 Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.

65 She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her 1veil and covered herself.

66 The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and ahe took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and bhe loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after chis mother’s death.

Chapter 25

Abraham’s Death

1 Now Abraham took another wife, 1whose name was Keturah.

2 aShe bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3 Jokshan 1became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

5 aNow Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;

6 but to the sons of 1his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and asent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

7 These are 1all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, aone hundred and seventy-five years.

8 Abraham breathed his last and died ain a 1ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was bgathered to his people.

9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in athe cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,

10 athe field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that aGod blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac 1lived by bBeer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

12 Now these are the records of the generations of aIshmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;

13 and these are the names of athe sons of Ishmael, by their names, 1in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; atwelve princes according to their 1tribes.

17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, aone hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was bgathered to his people.

18 They 1settled from aHavilah to bShur which is 2east of Egypt 3as one goes toward Assyria; che 4settled in defiance of all his 5relatives.

Isaac’s Sons

19 Now these are the records of athe generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham 1became the father of Isaac;

20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took aRebekah, the bdaughter of Bethuel the 1Aramean of Paddan-aram, the csister of Laban the 1Aramean, to be his wife.

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and athe Lord 1answered him and Rebekah his wife bconceived.

22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to ainquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

“aTwo nations are in your womb;

bAnd two peoples will be separated from your body;

And one people shall be stronger than the other;

And cthe older shall serve the younger.”

24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 Now the first came forth red, aall over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.

26 Afterward his brother came forth with ahis hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so bhis name was called 1Jacob; and Isaac was csixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a 1peaceful man, 2aliving in tents.

28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because 1he had aa taste for game, bbut Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 When Jacob had cooked astew, Esau came in from the field and he was 1famished;

30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of 1that red stuff there, for I am 2famished.” Therefore his name was called 3Edom.

31 But Jacob said, “1First sell me your abirthright.”

32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”

33 And Jacob said, “1First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and asold his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Chapter 26

Isaac Settles in Gerar

1 Now there was aa famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to bAbimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The Lord aappeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; 1bstay in the land of which I shall tell you.

3 “Sojourn in this land and aI will be with you and bbless you, for cto you and to your 1descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish dthe oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

4 “aI will multiply your 1descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your 1descendants all these lands; and bby your 1descendants all the nations of the earth 2shall be blessed;

5 because Abraham 1aobeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

6 So Isaac 1lived in Gerar.

7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “aShe is my sister,” for he was bafraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “1the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is cbeautiful.”

8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.

9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’ ”

10 aAbimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who atouches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and 1reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And athe Lord blessed him,

13 and the man abecame rich, and continued to grow 1richer until he became very 1wealthy;

14 for ahe had possessions of flocks 1and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

15 Now aall the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up 1by filling them with earth.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are 1atoo powerful for us.”