GENESIS 25

The Death of Abraham

Verse 1:
Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah.

Verse 2:
She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Verse 3:
Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.

Verse 4:
Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.

Verse 5:
Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac.

Verse 6:
But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.

Verse 7:
Abraham lived for 175 years,

Verse 8:
and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.

Verse 9: His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

Verse 10:
This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he had buried his wife Sarah.

Verse 11:
After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.

Ishmael’s Descendants

Verse 12:
This is the account of the family of Ishmael, the son of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant.

Verse 13:
Here is a list, by their names and clans, of Ishmael’s descendants: The oldest was Nebaioth, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

Verse 14:
Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

Verse 15:
Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

Verse 16:
These twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes named after them, listed according to the places they settled and camped.

Verse 17:
Ishmael lived for 137 years. Then he breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.

Verse 18:
Ishmael’s descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward all their relatives.

The Births of Esau and Jacob

Verse 19:
This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham.

Verse 20:
When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Verse 21:
Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.

Verse 22:
But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

Verse 23:
And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

Verse 24:
And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins!

Verse 25:
The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau.

Verse 26:
Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

Esau Sells His Birthright

Verse 27:
As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.

Verse 28:
Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Verse 29:
One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry.

Verse 30:
Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

Verse 31:
“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

Verse 32:
“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

Verse 33:
But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

Verse 34:
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.




Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.