1Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, while he was still living, and he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

The Death of Abraham

7This is the length of Abraham's life, one hundred seventy-five years. 8Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with his wife Sarah. 11After the death of Abraham God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.

Ishmael's Descendants

12These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave-girl, bore to Abraham. 13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and 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, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17(This is the length of the life of Ishmael, one hundred thirty-seven years; he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria; he settled down#25.18 Heb he fell alongside of#25.18 Or down in opposition to all his people.

The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob

19These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. 21Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”#25.22 Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23And the Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples born of you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the elder shall serve the younger.”

24When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob.#25.26 That is He takes by the heel or He supplants Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 28Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.#25.30 That is Red) 31Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”#25.33 Heb today So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

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Genesis 25

1Abraham married another wife; her name was Keturah. 2She had the following sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Keturah.

5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6But while he was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them to live in the east, well away from Isaac.

7Abraham lived to be 175 8when he breathed his last and died at a good old age. He had lived a full life, and now he joined his forefathers in death. 9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field that had belonged to Ephron, son of Zohar, the Hittite. 10This was the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who was living near Beer-lahai-roi.

12This is the genealogy of Abraham's son Ishmael. His mother Hagar was Sarah's Egyptian slave. 13These were the names of the sons of Ishmael according to their family genealogy: Nebaioth (firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these became the names of the places where they lived and camped—the twelve family rulers of their tribes. 17Ishmael lived to be 137. Then he breathed his last and died, and joined his forefathers in death. 18Ishmael's descendants inhabited the region from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. They were forever fighting with one other.#25:18. The Hebrew of this verse is unclear. However, see 16:12.

19The following is the genealogy of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham was the father of Isaac. 20When Isaac was 40 he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21Isaac prayed to the Lord for help on behalf of his wife because she couldn't have children. The Lord answered his prayer and she became pregnant. 22The twin babies inside her struggled with each other. So she asked the Lord, “Why is this happening to me?”

23“You have two nations inside you,” the Lord replied. “You're going to give birth to two peoples who will compete against each other. One will be stronger than the other; the older one will be the servant of the younger one.”

24When the time came she gave birth to twins. 25The first baby to be born was red, and covered with hair like a coat. So they named him Esau.#25:25. Esau sounds like the word for “hair.” 26Then his twin brother was born, holding on to Esau's heel. So he was named Jacob.#25:26. Jacob sounds like the words “heel” or “deceiver.” Isaac was 60 when they were born.

27The boys grew up and Esau became a skilled hunter, at home in the countryside. Jacob was quiet and liked to stay at home in the tents. 28Isaac loved Esau because he brought him tasty wild game to eat, while Rebekah loved Jacob.

29One day Jacob was cooking some stew when Esau got back from the countryside, tired out and starving hungry. 30“Give me some of that red stew,” Esau told Jacob. “I'm absolutely starving!” (That's how Esau got his other name, “Edom,” meaning “red.”)

31“First sell me your rights as the firstborn son,” Jacob replied.

32“Look! I'm dying here! What use are the rights of the firstborn to me?” Esau declared.

33“First you have to swear to me,” Jacob demanded. So Esau swore an oath selling his rights of the firstborn to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then he got up and left. By doing this Esau showed how little he cared for his rights as the firstborn son.

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com

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Genesis 25

Genesis 25