Genesis 25-26
English Standard Version
Abraham's Death and His Descendants
25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 (A)She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5 (B)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 (C)sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward (D)to the east country.
7 These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. 8 Abraham (E)breathed his last and (F)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael (G)his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field (H)that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. (I)There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at (J)Beer-lahai-roi.
12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, (K)whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham. 13 (L)These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: (M)Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and (N)Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, (O)Tema, (P)Jetur, (Q)Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, (R)twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He (S)breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 (T)They settled from Havilah to (U)Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled[a] over against all his kinsmen.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: (V)Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, (W)the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of (X)Paddan-aram, (Y)the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And (Z)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 is this happening to me?”[b] So she went (AA)to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,
(AB)“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you[c] shall be divided;
(AC)the one shall be stronger than the other,
(AD)the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, (AE)all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with (AF)his hand holding Esau's heel, so (AG)his name was called Jacob.[d] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was (AH)a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, (AI)dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because (AJ)he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright
29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.[e]) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and (AK)sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
God's Promise to Isaac
26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides (AL)the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to (AM)Abimelech king of the (AN)Philistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell (AO)in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 (AP)Sojourn in this land, and (AQ)I will be with you and will bless you, for (AR)to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish (AS)the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 (AT)I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And (AU)in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because (AV)Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Isaac and Abimelech
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, (AW)he said, “She is my sister,” for (AX)he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because (AY)she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with[f] Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech 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 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and (AZ)you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord (BA)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 many servants, so that the Philistines (BB)envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells (BC)that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech 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 settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And (BD)he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar (BE)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 they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,[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 Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, (BF)“I am the God of Abraham your father. (BG)Fear not, for (BH)I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25 So he (BI)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 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and (BJ)Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and (BK)have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, 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. (BL)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 (BM)exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent 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 that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah;[j] therefore the name of the city is (BN)Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took (BO)Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and (BP)they made life bitter[k] for Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:18 Hebrew fell
- Genesis 25:22 Or why do I live?
- Genesis 25:23 Or from birth
- Genesis 25:26 Jacob means He takes by the heel, or He cheats
- Genesis 25:30 Edom sounds like the Hebrew for red
- Genesis 26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship
- Genesis 26:20 Esek means contention
- Genesis 26:21 Sitnah means enmity
- Genesis 26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room
- Genesis 26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath
- Genesis 26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit
Genesis 25-26
New King James Version
Abraham and Keturah(A)
25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was (B)Keturah. 2 And (C)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 (D)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 (E)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to (F)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 (G)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and (H)was gathered to his people. 9 And (I)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of (J)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 (K)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. (L)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 (M)Beer Lahai Roi.
The Families of Ishmael and Isaac(N)
12 Now this is the (O)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13 And (P)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 [a]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their [b]settlements, (Q)twelve princes according to their nations. 17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and (R)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 (S)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He [c]died (T)in the presence of all his brethren.
19 This is the (U)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. (V)Abraham begot Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, (W)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, (X)the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; (Y)and the Lord granted his plea, (Z)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?” (AA)So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 And the Lord said to her:
(AB)“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than (AC)the other,
(AD)And the older shall serve the younger.”
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 (AE)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name [d]Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and (AF)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so (AG)his name was called [e]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was (AH)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was (AI)a [f]mild man, (AJ)dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he (AK)ate of his game, (AL)but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright(AM)
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 [g]Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so (AN)what is this birthright to me?”
33 Then Jacob said, [h]“Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and (AO)sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then (AP)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau (AQ)despised his birthright.
Isaac and Abimelech
26 There was a famine in the land, besides (AR)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to (AS)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: (AT)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in (AU)the land of which I shall tell you. 3 (AV)Dwell in this land, and (AW)I will be with you and (AX)bless you; for to you and your descendants (AY)I give all these lands, and I will perform (AZ)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And (BA)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; (BB)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 (BC)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 (BD)he said, “She is my sister”; for (BE)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 (BF)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, [i]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 (BG)you would have brought guilt on us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who (BH)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 (BI)a hundredfold; and the Lord (BJ)blessed him. 13 The man (BK)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 (BL)envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells (BM)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 (BN)you are much mightier than we.”
17 Then Isaac departed from there and [j]pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. (BO)He called them by the names which his father had called them.
19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar (BP)quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well [k]Esek, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name [l]Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name [m]Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall (BQ)be fruitful in the land.”
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord (BR)appeared to him the same night and said, (BS)“I am the God of your father Abraham; (BT)do not fear, for (BU)I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he (BV)built an altar there and (BW)called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, (BX)and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, (BY)since you hate me and have (BZ)sent me away from you?”
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord (CA)is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a [n]covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. (CB)You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”
30 (CC)So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and (CD)swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 So he called it [o]Shebah. (CE)Therefore the name of the city is [p]Beersheba to this day.
34 (CF)When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And (CG)they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:15 MT Hadad
- Genesis 25:16 camps
- Genesis 25:18 fell
- Genesis 25:25 Lit. Hairy
- Genesis 25:26 Supplanter or Deceitful, lit. One Who Takes the Heel
- Genesis 25:27 Lit. complete
- Genesis 25:30 Lit. Red
- Genesis 25:33 Take an oath
- Genesis 26:8 caressing
- Genesis 26:17 camped
- Genesis 26:20 Lit. Quarrel
- Genesis 26:21 Lit. Enmity
- Genesis 26:22 Lit. Spaciousness
- Genesis 26:28 treaty
- Genesis 26:33 Lit. Oath or Seven
- Genesis 26:33 Lit. Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven
Genesis 25-26
Living Bible
25 1-2 Now Abraham married again. Keturah was his new wife, and she bore him several children: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah. 3 Jokshan’s two sons were Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.[a]
5 Abraham deeded everything he owned to Isaac; 6 however, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off into the east, away from Isaac.
7-8 Then Abraham died, at the ripe old age of 175, 9-10 and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Mach-pelah near Mamre, in the field Abraham had purchased from Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite, where Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was buried.
11 After Abraham’s death, God poured out rich blessings upon Isaac. (Isaac had now moved south to Beer-lahai-roi in the Negeb.)
12-15 Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave girl: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. 16 These twelve sons of his became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names. 17 Ishmael finally died at the age of 137, and joined his ancestors.[b] 18 These descendants of Ishmael were scattered across the country from Havilah to Shur (which is a little way to the northeast of the Egyptian border in the direction of Assyria). And they were constantly at war with one another.
19 This is the story of Isaac’s children: 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram. Rebekah was the sister of Laban. 21 Isaac pleaded with Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage[c] she had no children. Then at last she became pregnant. 22 And it seemed as though children were fighting each other inside her!
“I can’t endure this,” she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.
23 And he told her, “The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger!”
24 And sure enough, she had twins. 25 The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him “Esau.”[d] 26 Then the other twin was born with his hand on Esau’s heel! So they called him Jacob (meaning “Grabber”). Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27 As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home. 28 Isaac’s favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
29 One day Jacob was cooking stew when Esau arrived home exhausted from the hunt.
30 Esau: “Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!” (From this came his nickname “Edom,” which means “Red Stuff.”)
31 Jacob: “All right, trade me your birthright for it!”
32 Esau: “When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?”
33 Jacob: “Well then, vow to God that it is mine!”
And Esau vowed, thereby selling all his eldest-son rights to his younger brother. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew; so he ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away.[e]
26 Now a severe famine overshadowed the land, as had happened before, in Abraham’s time, and so Isaac moved to the city of Gerar where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
2 Jehovah appeared to him there and told him, “Don’t go to Egypt. 3 Do as I say and stay here in this land. If you do, I will be with you and bless you, and I will give all this land to you and to your descendants, just as I promised Abraham your father. 4 And I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars! And I will give them all of these lands; and they shall be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. 5 I will do this because Abraham obeyed my commandments and laws.”
6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 And when the men there asked him about Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister!” For he feared for his life if he told them she was his wife; he was afraid they would kill him to get her, for she was very attractive. 8 But sometime later, King Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac and Rebekah making love.
9 Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?”
“Because I was afraid I would be murdered,” Isaac replied. “I thought someone would kill me to get her from me.”
10 “How could you treat us this way?” Abimelech exclaimed. “Someone might carelessly have raped her, and we would be doomed.” 11 Then Abimelech made a public proclamation: “Anyone harming this man or his wife shall die.”
12 That year Isaac’s crops were tremendous—100 times the grain he sowed. For Jehovah blessed him. 13 He was soon a man of great wealth and became richer and richer. 14 He had large flocks of sheep and goats, great herds of cattle, and many servants. And the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So they filled up his wells with earth—all those dug by the servants of his father Abraham.
16 And King Abimelech asked Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too rich and powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved to Gerar Valley and lived there instead. 18 And Isaac redug the wells of his father Abraham, the ones the Philistines had filled after his father’s death, and gave them the same names they had had before, when his father had named them. 19 His shepherds also dug a new well in Gerar Valley, and found a gushing underground spring.
20 Then the local shepherds came and claimed it. “This is our land and our well,” they said, and argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So he named the well, “The Well of Argument!”[f] 21 Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a fight over it. So he called it, “The Well of Anger.”[g] 22 Abandoning that one, he dug again, and the local residents finally left him alone. So he called it, “The Well of Room Enough for Us at Last!”[h] “For now at last,” he said, “the Lord has made room for us and we shall thrive.”
23 When he went to Beer-sheba, 24 Jehovah appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of Abraham your father,” he said. “Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you, and will give you so many descendants that they will become a great nation—because of my promise to Abraham, who obeyed me.” 25 Then Isaac built an altar and worshiped Jehovah; and he settled there, and his servants dug a well.
26 One day Isaac had visitors from Gerar. King Abimelech arrived with his advisor, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.
27 “Why have you come?” Isaac asked them. “This is obviously no friendly visit, since you kicked me out in a most uncivil way.”
28 “Well,” they said, “we can plainly see that Jehovah is blessing you. We’ve decided to ask for a treaty between us. 29 Promise that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you, and in fact, have done only good to you and have sent you away in peace; we bless you in the name of the Lord.”
30 So Isaac prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank in preparation for the treaty ceremonies. 31 In the morning, as soon as they were up, they each took solemn oaths to seal a nonaggression pact. Then Isaac sent them happily home again.
32 That very same day Isaac’s servants came to tell him, “We have found water”—in the well they had been digging. 33 So he named the well, “The Well of the Oath,”[i] and the city that grew up there was named “Oath,” and is called that to this day.
34 Esau, at the age of forty, married a girl named Judith, daughter of Be-eri the Hethite; and he also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hethite. 35 But Isaac and Rebekah were bitter about his marrying them.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:4 Midian’s sons were . . . and Eldaah. The text adds, “All these were the children of Keturah.”
- Genesis 25:17 and joined his ancestors, literally, “and was gathered to his people.”
- Genesis 25:21 even after many years of marriage, implied in vv. 20 and 26.
- Genesis 25:25 Esau sounds a little like the Hebrew word for “hair.”
- Genesis 25:34 indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away, literally, “thus did Esau consider his birthright to be of no value.”
- Genesis 26:20 The Well of Argument, i.e., Esek.
- Genesis 26:21 The Well of Anger, i.e., Sitnah.
- Genesis 26:22 The Well of Room Enough for Us at Last, i.e., Rehoboth.
- Genesis 26:33 The Well of the Oath, i.e., Shibah. Oath, i.e., Beer-sheba.
Matthew 9:1-17
English Standard Version
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to (A)his own city. 2 (B)And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus (C)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, (D)“Take heart, my son; (E)your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, (F)“This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, (G)knowing[a] their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, (H)they were afraid, and (I)they glorified God, who had (J)given such authority to men.
Jesus Calls Matthew
9 (K)As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called (L)Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus[b] reclined at table in the house, behold, many (M)tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, (N)“Why does your teacher eat with (O)tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn (P)what this means: (Q)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For (R)I came not to call the righteous, (S)but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
14 Then (T)the disciples of John came to him, saying, (U)“Why do we and (V)the Pharisees fast,[c] but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, (W)“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? (X)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and (Y)then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old (Z)wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:4 Some manuscripts perceiving
- Matthew 9:10 Greek he
- Matthew 9:14 Some manuscripts add much, or often
Matthew 9:1-17
New King James Version
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic(A)
9 So He got into a boat, crossed over, (B)and came to His own city. 2 (C)Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. (D)When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
4 But Jesus, (E)knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house.
8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they (F)marveled[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Matthew the Tax Collector(G)
9 (H)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
10 (I)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with (J)tax collectors and (K)sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: (L)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, (M)but sinners, [b]to repentance.”
Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(N)
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, (O)“Why do we and the Pharisees fast [c]often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can (P)the [d]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and (Q)then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for [e]the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins [f]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:8 NU were afraid
- Matthew 9:13 NU omits to repentance
- Matthew 9:14 NU brackets often as disputed.
- Matthew 9:15 Lit. sons of the bridechamber
- Matthew 9:16 Lit. that which is put on
- Matthew 9:17 burst
Matthew 9:1-17
Living Bible
9 So Jesus climbed into a boat and went across the lake to Capernaum, his hometown.[a]
2 Soon some men brought him a paralyzed man on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick man, “Cheer up, son! For I have forgiven your sins!”
3 “Blasphemy! This man is saying he is God!” exclaimed some of the religious leaders to themselves.
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, “Why are you thinking such evil thoughts? 5-6 I, the Messiah,[b] have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed.”
7 And the man jumped up and left!
8 A chill of fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen right before their eyes. How they praised God for giving such authority to a man!
9 As Jesus was going on down the road, he saw a tax collector, Matthew,[c] sitting at a tax collection booth. “Come and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him, and Matthew jumped up and went along with him.
10 Later, as Jesus and his disciples were eating dinner at Matthew’s house,[d] there were many notorious swindlers there as guests!
11 The Pharisees were indignant. “Why does your teacher associate with men like that?”
12 “Because people who are well don’t need a doctor! It’s the sick people who do!” was Jesus’ reply. 13 Then he added, “Now go away and learn the meaning of this verse of Scripture,
‘It isn’t your sacrifices and your gifts I want—I want you to be merciful.’[e]
For I have come to urge sinners, not the self-righteous, back to God.”
14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast as we do and as the Pharisees do?”
15 “Should the bridegroom’s friends mourn and go without food while he is with them?” Jesus asked. “But the time is coming when I[f] will be taken from them. Time enough then for them to refuse to eat.
16 “And who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the patch would tear away and make the hole worse. 17 And who would use old wineskins[g] to store new wine? For the old skins would burst with the pressure, and the wine would be spilled and skins ruined. Only new wineskins are used to store new wine. That way both are preserved.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:1 his hometown, literally, “his own city.”
- Matthew 9:5 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
- Matthew 9:9 Matthew, the Matthew who wrote this book.
- Matthew 9:10 at Matthew’s house, implied.
- Matthew 9:13 I want you to be merciful, see Hosea 6:6.
- Matthew 9:15 I, literally, “the Bridegroom.”
- Matthew 9:17 old wineskins. These were leather bags for storing wine.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.