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25 And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years. And Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10 the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. 11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son: and Isaac dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15 Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16 these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments; twelve princes according to their nations. 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered unto his people. 18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: he [a]abode over against all his brethren.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the [b]Syrian, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac entreated Jehovah for his wife, because she was barren: and Jehovah was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, [c]wherefore do I live? And she went to inquire of Jehovah. 23 And Jehovah said unto her,

Two nations are in thy womb,
And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels:
And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
And the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came forth [d]red, all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called [e]Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a [f]quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: and Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint: 30 and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with [g]that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called [h]Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me [i]first thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am about to die: and what profit shall the birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me first; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: so Esau despised his birthright.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 25:18 Or, settled. Hebrew fell
  2. Genesis 25:20 Hebrew Aramean.
  3. Genesis 25:22 Or, wherefore am I thus?
  4. Genesis 25:25 Or, ruddy
  5. Genesis 25:26 That is, One that takes by the heel or supplants.
  6. Genesis 25:27 Or, harmless. Hebrew perfect.
  7. Genesis 25:30 Hebrew the red pottage, this red pottage.
  8. Genesis 25:30 That is, Red.
  9. Genesis 25:31 Hebrew to-day.

Abraham’s Family

25 Abraham married again, and his new wife was Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush, and Leum. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But before Abraham died, he did give gifts to the sons of his other wives, then sent them to the East to be away from Isaac.

Abraham lived to be one hundred seventy-five years old. He breathed his last breath and died at an old age, after a long and satisfying life. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. (Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite.) 10 So Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah in the same field that he had bought from the Hittites. 11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac was now living at Beer Lahai Roi.

12 This is the family history of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant, was Ishmael’s mother.) 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order they were born: Nebaioth, the first son, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s sons, and these are the names of the tribal leaders listed according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived one hundred thirty-seven years and then breathed his last breath and died. 18 His descendants lived from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria. They often attacked the descendants of his brothers.

Isaac’s Family

19 This is the family history of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac. 20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, who came from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac’s wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.

22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?” Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your body,
    and two groups of people will be taken from you.
One group will be stronger than the other,
    and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. 25 The first baby was born red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau.[a] 26 When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel, so that baby was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man and stayed among the tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields, weak from hunger. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger.” (That is why people call him Edom.[c])

31 But Jacob said, “You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son.”[d]

32 Esau said, “I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father’s wealth will not help me.”

33 But Jacob said, “First, promise me that you will give it to me.” So Esau made a promise to Jacob and sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup, and he ate and drank, and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.

Footnotes

  1. 25:25 Esau This name may mean “hairy.”
  2. 25:26 Jacob This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “heel.” “Grabbing someone’s heel” is a Hebrew saying for tricking someone.
  3. 25:30 Edom This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “red.”
  4. 25:31 rights . . . son Usually the firstborn son had a high rank in the family. The firstborn son usually became the new head of the family.