⁵² And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that ^(A)he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out ^(B)jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave ^(C)precious things to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, ^(D)“Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶ And he said to them, “Do not ^[a]hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister ^(E)and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

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

⁶² Now Isaac came from the way of ^(H)Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. ⁶³ And Isaac went out ^(I)to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac ^(J)she dismounted from her camel; ⁶⁵ for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he ^(K)took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac ^(L)was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham and Keturah^(M)

25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was ^(N)Keturah. ² And ^(O)she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵ And ^(P)Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶ But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he ^(Q)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to ^(R)the country of the east.

Abraham’s Death and Burial

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and ^(S)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and ^(T)was gathered to his people. ⁹ And ^(U)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of ^(V)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, ^10 (W)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. ^(X)There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹ And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at ^(Y)Beer Lahai Roi.

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac^(Z)

¹² Now this is the ^(AA)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³ And ^(AB)these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ^15 [b]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their ^[c]settlements, ^(AC)twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and ^(AD)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ^18 (AE)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He ^[d]died ^(AF)in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹ This is the ^(AG)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. ^(AH)Abraham begot Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, ^(AI)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, ^(AJ)the sister of Laban the Syrian. ²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; ^(AK)and the Lord granted his plea, ^(AL)and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” ^(AM)So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said to her:

²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red. He was ^(AQ)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name ^[e]Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and ^(AR)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so ^(AS)his name was called ^[f]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. And Esau was ^(AT)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was ^(AU)a ^[g]mild man, ^(AV)dwelling in tents. ²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ^(AW)ate of his game, ^(AX)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright^(AY)

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

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

³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so ^(AZ)what is this birthright to me?”

³³ Then Jacob said, ^[i]“Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and ^(BA)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then ^(BB)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau ^(BC)despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 There was a famine in the land, besides ^(BD)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to ^(BE)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ^(BF)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in ^(BG)the land of which I shall tell you. ^3 (BH)Dwell in this land, and ^(BI)I will be with you and ^(BJ)bless you; for to you and your descendants ^(BK)I give all these lands, and I will perform ^(BL)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ And ^(BM)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; ^(BN)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ^5 (BO)because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ⁷ And the men of the place asked about his wife. And ^(BP)he said, “She is my sister”; for ^(BQ)he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is ^(BR)beautiful to behold.” ⁸ Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, ^[j]showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and ^(BS)you would have brought guilt on us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who ^(BT)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year ^(BU)a hundredfold; and the Lord ^(BV)blessed him. ¹³ The man ^(BW)began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines ^(BX)envied him. ¹⁵ Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells ^(BY)which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. ¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for ^(BZ)you are much mightier than we.”

The Cost of Discipleship^(A)

¹⁸ And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. ^19 (B)Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

^21 (C)Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, ^(D)let me first go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(E)

²³ Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. ^24 (F)And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. ²⁵ Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then ^(G)He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, ^[a]“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Two Demon-Possessed Men Healed^(H)

^28 (I)When He had come to the other side, to the country of the ^[b]Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰ Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. ³¹ So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, ^[c]permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

³² And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

³³ Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, ^(J)they begged Him to depart from their region.

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil