Genesis 25
Lexham English Bible
The Death and Descendants of Abraham
25 Now Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 And Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. 4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All of these were the children of Keturah. 5 And Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of Abraham’s concubines Abraham gave gifts. And while he was still living he sent them away eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the east. 7 Now these are the days of the years of the life of Abraham:[a] one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 And Abraham passed away and died in a good old age, old and full of years. And he was gathered to his people. 9 And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite, that was east of Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites.[b] There Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife. 11 And it happened that after the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac settled at Beer-Lahai-Roi.
12 Now these are the generations[c] of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, that Hagar the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah, bore to Abraham. 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their family records. The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their villages and by their encampments—12 leaders according to their tribes. 17 Now these are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. And he passed away and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which was opposite[d] Egypt, going toward Asshur, opposite;[e] he settled[f] opposite[g] all his brothers.
Jacob and Esau
19 Now these are the generations[h] of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 And Isaac was forty years old[i] when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, as his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife, for she was barren. And Yahweh responded to his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children in her womb jostled each other, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, why be pregnant?”[j] And she went to inquire of Yahweh. 23 And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from birth[k] shall be divided. And one people shall be stronger than the other.[l] And the elder shall serve the younger.” 24 And when her days to give birth were completed,[m] then—behold—twins were in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, all his body[n] was like a hairy coat, so they called his name Esau. 26 And afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old[o] at their birth. 27 And the boys grew up. And Esau was a skilled[p] hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he could eat of his game,[q] but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once[r] Jacob cooked a thick stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff[s] to gulp down, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom). 31 Then Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright first.”[t] 32 And Esau said, “Look, I am going to die; now what is this birthright to me?” 33 Then Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”[u] And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread, and thick lentil stew, and he ate and drank. Then he got up and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:7 Literally “the years of the life of Abraham which he lived”
- Genesis 25:10 Or “sons of Heth”
- Genesis 25:12 Or “family records”
- Genesis 25:18 Or “upon the face of”
- Genesis 25:18 Or “upon the face of”
- Genesis 25:18 Literally “fell”
- Genesis 25:18 Or “upon the face of”
- Genesis 25:19 Or “family records”
- Genesis 25:20 Literally “a son of forty years”
- Genesis 25:22 Literally “if so, why this I?”
- Genesis 25:23 Literally “from your bowels”
- Genesis 25:23 Literally “people than people shall be stronger”
- Genesis 25:24 Or “full”
- Genesis 25:25 Literally “of him”
- Genesis 25:26 Literally “a son of sixty years”
- Genesis 25:27 Or “knowing” (knowledgeable)
- Genesis 25:28 Literally “game in his mouth”
- Genesis 25:29 Or “and”
- Genesis 25:30 Literally “some of the red, this red”
- Genesis 25:31 Literally “as the day”
- Genesis 25:33 Literally “as the day”
Genesis 25
International Children’s Bible
Abraham’s Family
25 Abraham married again. His new wife was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush and Leum. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But before Abraham died, he did give gifts to the sons of his other wives. Abraham sent them to the East to be away from Isaac.
7 Abraham lived to be 175 years old. 8 He breathed his last breath and died at an old age. He had lived a long and satisfying life. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. This cave is in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This is the same field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 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. The first son was Nebaioth. Then came 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. They are listed according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived 137 years. Then he breathed his last breath and died. 18 Ishmael’s descendants lived from Havilah to Shur. This is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria. Ishmael’s descendants 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 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was 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.
Two groups of people will be taken from you.
One group will be stronger than the other.
The older will serve the younger.”
24 And when the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. 25 The first baby was born red. His skin was like a hairy robe. So 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 60 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. He stayed among the tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau. Esau 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. He was weak from hunger. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup. 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. In this way he sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup. Esau ate and drank and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.
Footnotes
- 25:25 Esau This name may mean “hairy.”
- 25:26 Jacob This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “heel.” “Grabbing someone’s heel” is a Hebrew saying for tricking someone.
- 25:30 Edom This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “red.”
- 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.
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The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
