1Abraham again took a wife, and her name was #1 Chr. 1:32, 33Keturah. 2And #1 Chr. 1:32, 33she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

5And #Gen. 24:35, 36Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he #Gen. 21:14sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to #Judg. 6:3the country of the east.

Abraham’s Death and Burial

7This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. 8Then Abraham breathed his last and #Gen. 15:15; 47:8, 9died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and #Gen. 25:17; 35:29; 49:29, 33was gathered to his people. 9And #Gen. 35:29; 50:13his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of #Gen. 23:9, 17; 49:30Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, 10#Gen. 23:3–16the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. #Gen. 49:31There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. 11And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at #Gen. 16:14Beer Lahai Roi.

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac

12Now this is the #Gen. 11:10, 27; 16:15genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13And #1 Chr. 1:29–31these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, #Gen. 17:20twelve princes according to their nations. 17These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and #Gen. 25:8; 49:33he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18#Gen. 20:1; 1 Sam. 15:7(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died #Gen. 16:12in the presence of all his brethren.

19This is the #Gen. 36:1, 9genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. #Matt. 1:2Abraham begot Isaac. 20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, #Gen. 22:23; 24:15, 29, 67the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, #Gen. 24:29the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; #1 Sam. 1:17; 1 Chr. 5:20; 2 Chr. 33:13; Ezra 8:23; Ps. 127:3and the Lord granted his plea, #Rom. 9:10–13and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” #1 Sam. 1:15; 9:9; 10:22So she went to inquire of the Lord.

23And the Lord said to her:

#Gen. 17:4–6, 16; 24:60; Num. 20:14; Deut. 2:4–8“Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than #2 Sam. 8:14the other,

#Gen. 27:29, 40; Mal. 1:2, 3; Rom. 9:12And the older shall serve the younger.”

24So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25And the first came out red. He was #Gen. 27:11, 16, 23like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out, and #Hos. 12:3his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so #Gen. 27:36his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27So the boys grew. And Esau was #Gen. 27:3, 5a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was #Job 1:1, 8a mild man, #Heb. 11:9dwelling in tents. 28And Isaac loved Esau because he #Gen. 27:4, 19, 25, 31ate of his game, #Gen. 27:6–10but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

31But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

32And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so #Matt. 16:26; Mark 8:36, 37what is this birthright to me?”

33Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and #Heb. 12:16sold his birthright to Jacob. 34And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then #Eccl. 8:15; Is. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau #Heb. 12:16, 17despised his birthright.

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Genesis 25

The death of Abraham

Abraham marries Keturah

1Abraham married Keturah, 2and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.

5-6While Abraham was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of Hagar and Keturah. He also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son Isaac, and when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac.

The death of Abraham

7-8Abraham died at the ripe old age of one hundred and seventy-five. 9-10His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron#25.9,10 Hebron: See the note at 23.16-18. in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah.#Gn 23.3-16. 11God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One who Sees Me”.#25.11 The Well…Sees Me: Or “Beer-Lahai-Roi” (see 16.14).

Ishmael's descendants

12Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. 13Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.

17-18Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons#25.17,18 sons: Or “descendants”. settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.#25.17,18 Havilah to Shur…Asshur: The exact location of these places is not known. Ishmael was one hundred and thirty-seven when he died.

Isaac and his family

The birth of Esau and Jacob

19Isaac was the son of Abraham, 20and he was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria.#25.20 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10.

Almost twenty years later, 21Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the LORD to let her have a child, and the LORD answered his prayer.

22Before Rebekah gave birth, she knew she was going to have twins, because she could feel them inside her, fighting each other. She thought, “Why is this happening to me?” Finally, she asked the LORD why her twins were fighting, 23and he told her:#Ro 9.12.

“Your two sons will become

two separate nations.#25.23 two separate nations: Or “two nations always in conflict”.

The younger of the two

will be stronger,

and the elder son

will be his servant.”

24When Rebekah gave birth, 25the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.#25.25 Esau: In Hebrew “Esau” sounds like “hairy”. 26The second baby grabbed his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob.#25.26 Jacob: In Hebrew “Jacob” sounds like “heel”. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

Esau sells his rights as the firstborn son

27As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob settled down and became a shepherd. 28Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, and so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother's favourite son.

29One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, when Esau came home hungry 30and said, “I'm starving to death! Give me some of that red stew at once!” That's how Esau got the name “Edom”.#25.30 Edom: In Hebrew “Edom” sounds like “red”.

31Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the firstborn son.”#25.31 rights…son: The firstborn son inherited the largest amount of property, as well as the leadership of the family.

32“I'm about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”

33But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that's what Esau did.#He 12.16. 34Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the firstborn.

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Genesis 25

Genesis 25