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,

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.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^(A)ten virgins who took their lamps^[a] and went to meet ^(B)the bridegroom.^{[b] 2} Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(C)wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom ^(D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But ^(E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and ^(F)trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ^(G)those who were ready went in with him to ^(H)the marriage feast, and ^(I)the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ^12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^(L)I do not know you.’ ^13 (M)Watch therefore, for you ^(N)know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

^14 (O)“For ^(P)it will be like a man ^(Q)going on a journey, who called his servants^[c] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^(R)talents,^[d] to another two, to another one, ^(S)to each according to his ability. Then he ^(T)went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and ^(U)dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ Now ^(V)after a long time the master of those servants came and ^(W)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(X)faithful servant.^{[e] (Y)}You have been faithful over a little; ^(Z)I will set you over much. Enter into ^(AA)the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ^(AB)a hard man, reaping ^(AC)where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, ^(AD)you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You ^(AE)wicked and ^(AF)slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ^29 (AG)For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And ^(AH)cast ^(AI)the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place ^(AJ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Final Judgment

^31 (AK)“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, ^(AL)then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him ^(AM)will be gathered ^(AN)all the nations, and ^(AO)he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates ^(AP)the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then ^(AQ)the King will say to ^(AR)those on his right, ‘Come, you ^(AS)who are blessed by my Father, ^(AT)inherit ^(AU)the kingdom ^(AV)prepared for you ^(AW)from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For ^(AX)I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you ^(AY)gave me drink, ^(AZ)I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ^36 (BA)I was naked and you clothed me, ^(BB)I was sick and you ^(BC)visited me, ^(BD)I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And ^(BE)the King will answer them, ^(BF)‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these ^(BG)my brothers,^[f] you did it to me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ^(BH)‘Depart from me, you ^(BI)cursed, into ^(BJ)the eternal fire prepared for ^(BK)the devil and his angels. ⁴² For ^(BL)I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, ^(BM)you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away ^(BN)into eternal punishment, but the righteous ^(BO)into ^(BP)eternal life.”

The King's Banquets

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^(A)from India to Ethiopia over ^(B)127 provinces, ² in those days when King Ahasuerus ^(C)sat on his royal throne in ^(D)Susa, the citadel, ³ in the third year of his reign ^(E)he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, ⁴ while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. ⁵ And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of ^(F)the garden of the king's palace. ⁶ There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods^[a] and marble pillars, and also ^(G)couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. ⁷ Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. ⁸ And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. ⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

Queen Vashti's Refusal

¹⁰ On the seventh day, ^(H)when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, ^(I)Harbona, ^(J)Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with ^(K)her royal crown,^[b] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

¹³ Then the king said to ^(L)the wise men ^(M)who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, ¹⁴ the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and ^(N)Memucan, ^(O)the seven princes of Persia and Media, ^(P)who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom): ¹⁵ “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt,^[c] since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. ¹⁹ If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so ^(Q)that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. ²⁰ So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, ^(R)all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” ²¹ This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. ²² He sent letters to all the royal provinces, ^(S)to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.