Abraham Marries Keturah

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Ketu′rah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Mid′ian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshu′rim, Letu′shim, and Le-um′mim. ⁴ The sons of Mid′ian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abi′da, and Elda′ah. All these were the children of Ketu′rah. ⁵ Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. ⁶ But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

The Death of Abraham

⁷ These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹ Isaac and Ish′mael his sons buried him in the cave of Mach-pe′lah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ After the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac dwelt at Beer-la′hai-roi.

Ishmael’s Descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ish′mael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ish′mael, named in the order of their birth: Neba′ioth, the first-born of Ish′mael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Ked′emah. ¹⁶ These are the sons of Ish′mael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. ¹⁷ (These are the years of the life of Ish′mael, a hundred and thirty-seven years; he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his kindred.) ¹⁸ They dwelt from Hav′ilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria; he settled^[a] over against all his people.

The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob

^19 [b]These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethu′el the Arame′an of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Arame′an. ²¹ And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is thus, why do I live?”^[c] So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob.^[d] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

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

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹ Once when Jacob was boiling pottage, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red pottage, for I am famished!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.^[e]) ³¹ Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” ³² Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”^[f] So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abim′elech king of the Philistines. ² And the Lord appeared to him, and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: ⁵ because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister”; for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of Rebekah”; because she was fair to look upon. ⁸ When he had been there a long time, Abim′elech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his wife. ⁹ So Abim′elech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, she is your wife; how then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” ¹⁰ Abim′elech 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 Abim′elech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) ¹⁶ And Abim′elech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there, and encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names which his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of springing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,^[g] because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he called its name Sitnah.^{[h] 22} And he moved from there and dug another well, and over that they did not quarrel; so he called its name Reho′both,^[i] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

²³ From there he went up to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abim′elech went to him from Gerar with Ahuz′zath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see plainly that the Lord is with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. ³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

Esau’s Hittite Wives

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Be-e′ri the Hittite, and Bas′emath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Royal Thanksgiving for Victory

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

11 And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Messengers from John the Baptist

² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”^{[a] 4} And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”

Jesus Praises John the Baptist

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ Why then did you go out? To see a man^[b] clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. ⁹ Why then did you go out? To see a prophet?^[c] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[d] and men of violence take it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, he is Eli′jah who is to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear,^[e] let him hear.