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52 Abraham's servant bowed down and thanked the Lord. 53 Then he gave clothing, as well as silver and gold jewelry, to Rebekah. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and her mother.
54 Abraham's servant and the men with him ate and drank, then spent the night there. The next morning they got up, and the servant told Rebekah's mother and brother, “I would like to go back to my master now.”
55 “Let Rebekah stay with us for a week or ten days,” they answered. “Then she may go.”
56 But he said, “Don't make me stay any longer. The Lord has already helped me find a wife for my master's son. Now let us return.”
57 They answered, “Let's ask Rebekah what she wants to do.” 58 They called her and asked, “Are you willing to leave with this man at once?”
“Yes,” she answered.
59 So they agreed to let Rebekah and an old family servant woman[a] leave immediately with Abraham's servant and his men. 60 They gave Rebekah their blessing and said, “We pray that God will give you many children and grandchildren and that he will help them defeat their enemies.” 61 Afterwards, Rebekah and the young women who were to travel with her prepared to leave. Then they got on camels and left with Abraham's servant and his men.
62 At that time Isaac was living in the southern part of Canaan near a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[b] 63-65 One evening he was walking[c] out in the fields, when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels. So he started toward them. Rebekah saw him coming; she got down from her camel, and asked, “Who is that man?”
“He is my master Isaac,” the servant answered. Then Rebekah covered her face with her veil.[d]
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.
67 Isaac took Rebekah into the tent[e] where his mother had lived before she died, and Rebekah became his wife. He loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother.
Abraham Marries Keturah
25 Abraham married Keturah, 2 and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
5-6 While 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
7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175. 9-10 (A) His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron[f] 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. 11 God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[g]
Ishmael's Descendants
12 Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. 13 Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.
17-18 Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons[h] settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.[i] Ishmael was 137 when he died.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
19 Isaac was the son of Abraham, 20 and he was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria.[j]
Almost 20 years later, 21 Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the Lord to let her have a child, and the Lord answered his prayer.
22 Before 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, 23 (B) and he told her:
“Your two sons will become
two separate nations.[k]
The younger of the two
will be stronger,
and the older son
will be his servant.”
24 When Rebekah gave birth, 25 the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.[l] 26 The second baby grabbed on to his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob.[m] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son
27 As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob lived the quiet life of a shepherd.[n] 28 Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother's favorite son.
29 One day, when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came home hungry 30 and said, “I'm starving to death! Here and now give me some of that red stew!” That's how Esau got the name “Edom.”[o]
31 Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.”[p]
32 “I'm about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”
33 (C) But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that's what Esau did. 34 Jacob 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 first-born.
Isaac and Abimelech
26 Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, 2 because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said:
Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. 3 (D) You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.
4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,[q] 5 because Abraham did everything I told him to do.
6 Isaac moved to Gerar 7 (E) with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. 8 After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. 9 Abimelech called him in and said, “Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?”
“Because I thought someone would kill me,” Isaac answered.
10 “Don't you know what you've done?” Abimelech exclaimed. “If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!” 11 Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
12 Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him, 13 and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. 14 In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, 15 and they stopped up the wells that Abraham's servants had dug before his death. 16 Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”
Some Who Wanted To Go with Jesus
(Luke 9.57-62)
18 When Jesus saw the crowd,[a] he went across Lake Galilee. 19 A teacher of the Law of Moses came up to him and said, “Teacher, I'll go anywhere with you!”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. But the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own.”
21 (A) Another disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, let me wait till I bury my father.”
22 Jesus answered, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”[b]
A Storm
(Mark 4.35-41; Luke 8.22-25)
23 After Jesus left in a boat with his disciples, 24 a terrible storm suddenly struck the lake, and waves started splashing into their boat.
Jesus was sound asleep, 25 so the disciples went over to him and woke him up. They said, “Lord, wake up! Save us before we drown!”
26 But Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid? You surely don't have much faith.” Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to calm down. And everything was calm.
27 The men in the boat were amazed and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.”
Two Men with Demons in Them
(Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39)
28 After Jesus had crossed the lake, he came to shore near the town of Gadara[c] and started down the road. Two men with demons in them came to him from the tombs.[d] They were so fierce that no one could travel that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “Jesus, Son of God, what do you want with us? Have you come to punish us before our time?”
30 Not far from there a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If you force us out, please send us into those pigs!” 32 Jesus told them to go, and they went out of the men and into the pigs. All at once the pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
33 The people taking care of the pigs ran to the town and told everything, especially what had happened to the two men. 34 Everyone in town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their part of the country.
A Prayer for Help
1 Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
when I am in trouble?
2 Proud and brutal people
hunt down the poor.
But let them get caught
by their own evil plans!
3 The wicked brag about
their deepest desires.
Those greedy people hate
and curse you, Lord.
4 The wicked are too proud
to turn to you
or even think about you.
5 They are always successful,
though they can't understand
your teachings,
and they keep sneering
at their enemies.
6 In their hearts they say,
“Nothing can hurt us!
We'll always be happy
and free from trouble.”
7 (A) They curse and tell lies,
and all they talk about
is how to be cruel
or how to do wrong.
8 They hide outside villages,
waiting to strike and murder
some innocent victim.
9 They are hungry lions
hiding in the bushes,
hoping to catch
some helpless passerby.
They trap the poor in nets
and drag them away.
10 They crouch down and wait
to grab a victim.
11 They say, “God can't see!
He's got on a blindfold.”
12 Do something, Lord God,
and use your powerful arm
to help those in need.
13 The wicked don't respect you.
In their hearts they say,
“God won't punish us!”
14 But you see the trouble
and the distress,
and you will do something.
The poor can count on you,
and so can orphans.
15 Now break the power
of all merciless people.
Punish them for doing wrong
and make them stop.
7 (A) Don't ever think that you
are wise enough,
but respect the Lord
and stay away from evil.
8 This will make you healthy,
and you will feel strong.
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