²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took ^(A)Rebekah, the ^(B)daughter of Bethuel the ^[a]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the ^(C)sister of Laban the ^[b]Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children; and ^(D)the Lord ^[c]answered him, and his wife Rebekah ^(E)conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to ^(F)inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days leading to the delivery were at an end, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came out red, ^(J)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with ^(K)his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so ^(L)he was named ^[d]Jacob; and Isaac was ^(M)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a ^[e]civilized man, ^(N)living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau because ^[f]he had ^(O)a taste for game; ^(P)but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ When Jacob had cooked a ^(Q)stew one day, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a mouthful of ^[g]that red stuff there, for I am exhausted.” Therefore he was called ^[h]Edom by name. ³¹ But Jacob said, “^[i]First sell me your ^(R)birthright.” ³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” ³³ And Jacob said, “^[j]First swear to me”; so he swore an oath to him, and ^(S)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

¹⁶ that there be no ^(A)sexually immoral or ^(B)godless person like Esau, ^(C)who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterward, ^(D)when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.