Genesis 25
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Abraham’s Other Wife and Sons
25 Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah,(A) 2 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac.(B) 6 And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.(C)
Abraham’s Death
7 This is the length of Abraham’s life:[a] 175 years. 8 He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age,(D) old and contented,[b] and he was gathered to his people.(E) 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah(F) near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites.(G) Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.(H)
Ishmael’s Family Records
12 These are the family records(I) of Abraham’s son Ishmael,(J) whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons; their names according to the family records are: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are Ishmael’s sons, and these are their names by their villages and encampments: 12 leaders[c](K) of their clans.[d] 17 This is the length[e] of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 And they[f] settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He[g] lived in opposition to[h] all his brothers.(L)
The Birth of Jacob and Esau
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.(M) 20 Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah(N) daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram(O) and sister of Laban the Aramean.(P) 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.(Q) The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.(R) 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”[i] So she went to inquire of the Lord.(S) 23 And the Lord said to her:
Two nations are in your womb;
two people will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,(T)
and the older will serve the younger.(U)
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking,[j] covered with hair[k] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.(V) 26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand.(W) So he was named Jacob.[l](X) Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Birthright
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman,[m] but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.[n] 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.(Y)
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.[o]
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.(Z)
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:7 Lit And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham that he lived
- Genesis 25:8 Sam, LXX, Syr read full of days
- Genesis 25:16 Or chieftains
- Genesis 25:16 Or peoples
- Genesis 25:17 Lit And these are the years
- Genesis 25:18 LXX, Vg read he
- Genesis 25:18 = Ishmael and his descendants
- Genesis 25:18 Or He settled down alongside of
- Genesis 25:22 Lit If thus, why this I
- Genesis 25:25 In Hb, the word red-looking sounds like “Edom”; Gn 32:3.
- Genesis 25:25 In Hb, the word hair sounds like “Seir”; Gn 32:3.
- Genesis 25:26 = He Grasps the Heel
- Genesis 25:27 Lit a man of the field
- Genesis 25:27 Lit man living in tents
- Genesis 25:30 = Red
Genesis 27
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Stolen Blessing
27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see,(A) he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3 Take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.(B) 4 Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”(C)
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me the game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now obey every order I give you, my son. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.(D) 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
18 When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”
And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
He replied, “Because the Lord your God worked it out for me.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”
22 So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25 Then he said, “Serve me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled[a] his clothes, he blessed him and said:
Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give to you—
from the dew of the sky(E)
and from the richness of the land(F)—
an abundance of grain and new wine.(G)
29 May peoples serve you(H)
and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brothers;
may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.(I)
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”(J)
35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?[b](K) For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37 But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.[c]
39 Then his father Isaac answered him:
Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel,[d]
you will break his yoke from your neck.
Esau’s Anger
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides— 45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”
46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hittite women.(L) If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like one of them,[e] what good is my life?”(M)
Footnotes
- Genesis 27:27 Lit smelled the smell of
- Genesis 27:36 = He Grasps the Heel
- Genesis 27:38 Lit Esau lifted up his voice and wept
- Genesis 27:40 Hb obscure
- Genesis 27:46 Lit of these daughters of the land
Genesis 32:1-33:4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Preparing to Meet Esau
32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.(A) 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.[a](B)
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”(C)
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him.”(D) 7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, cattle, and camels. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”(E)
9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,(F) the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’(G) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”(H)
13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:(I) 14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”
17 And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”
19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”
21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.(J) 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
Jacob Wrestles with God
24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.(K) 25 When the man saw that He could not defeat him, He struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then He said to Jacob, “Let Me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,”(L) He said. “It will be Israel[b] because you have struggled with God(M) and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.”
But He answered, “Why do you ask My name?”(N) And He blessed him there.
30 Jacob then named the place Peniel,[c] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.”(O) 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel[d](P)—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, to this day, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because He struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.[e]
Jacob Meets Esau
33 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female slaves. 2 He put the female slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground(Q) seven times until he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept.(R)
Footnotes
- Genesis 32:2 = Two Camps
- Genesis 32:28 In Hb, the name Israel sounds like “he struggled (with) God.”
- Genesis 32:30 = Face of God
- Genesis 32:31 Variant of Peniel
- Genesis 32:32 Or tendon
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
