Genesis 25
Contemporary English Version
Abraham Marries Keturah
25 Abraham married Keturah, 2 and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
5-6 While Abraham was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of Hagar and Keturah. He also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son Isaac, and when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac.
The Death of Abraham
7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175. 9-10 (A) His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron[a] in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah. 11 God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[b]
Ishmael's Descendants
12 Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. 13 Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.
17-18 Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons[c] settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.[d] Ishmael was 137 when he died.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
19 Isaac was the son of Abraham, 20 and he was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria.[e]
Almost 20 years later, 21 Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the Lord to let her have a child, and the Lord answered his prayer.
22 Before Rebekah gave birth, she knew she was going to have twins, because she could feel them inside her, fighting each other. She thought, “Why is this happening to me?” Finally, she asked the Lord why her twins were fighting, 23 (B) and he told her:
“Your two sons will become
two separate nations.[f]
The younger of the two
will be stronger,
and the older son
will be his servant.”
24 When Rebekah gave birth, 25 the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.[g] 26 The second baby grabbed on to his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob.[h] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son
27 As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob lived the quiet life of a shepherd.[i] 28 Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother's favorite son.
29 One day, when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came home hungry 30 and said, “I'm starving to death! Here and now give me some of that red stew!” That's how Esau got the name “Edom.”[j]
31 Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.”[k]
32 “I'm about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”
33 (C) But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that's what Esau did. 34 Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born.
Footnotes
- 25.9,10 Hebron: See the note at 23.16-18.
- 25.11 The Well … Sees Me: Or “Beer-Lahai-Roi,” (see 16.14).
- 25.17,18 sons: Or “descendants.”
- 25.17,18 Havilah to Shur … Asshur: The exact location of these places is not known.
- 25.20 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10.
- 25.23 two separate nations: Or “two nations always in conflict.”
- 25.25 Esau: In Hebrew “Esau” sounds like “hairy.”
- 25.26 Jacob: In Hebrew “Jacob” sounds like “heel.”
- 25.27 of a shepherd: Hebrew “in tents.”
- 25.30 Edom: In Hebrew “Edom” sounds like “red.”
- 25.31 rights … son: The first-born son inherited the largest amount of property, as well as the leadership of the family.
Genesis 25
New King James Version
Abraham and Keturah(A)
25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was (B)Keturah. 2 And (C)she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5 And (D)Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he (E)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to (F)the country of the east.
Abraham’s Death and Burial
7 This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and (G)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and (H)was gathered to his people. 9 And (I)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of (J)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 (K)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. (L)There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. 11 And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at (M)Beer Lahai Roi.
The Families of Ishmael and Isaac(N)
12 Now this is the (O)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13 And (P)these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 [a]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their [b]settlements, (Q)twelve princes according to their nations. 17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and (R)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 (S)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He [c]died (T)in the presence of all his brethren.
19 This is the (U)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. (V)Abraham begot Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, (W)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, (X)the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; (Y)and the Lord granted his plea, (Z)and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” (AA)So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 And the Lord said to her:
(AB)“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than (AC)the other,
(AD)And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was (AE)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name [d]Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and (AF)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so (AG)his name was called [e]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was (AH)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was (AI)a [f]mild man, (AJ)dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he (AK)ate of his game, (AL)but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright(AM)
29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called [g]Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so (AN)what is this birthright to me?”
33 Then Jacob said, [h]“Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and (AO)sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then (AP)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau (AQ)despised his birthright.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:15 MT Hadad
- Genesis 25:16 camps
- Genesis 25:18 fell
- Genesis 25:25 Lit. Hairy
- Genesis 25:26 Supplanter or Deceitful, lit. One Who Takes the Heel
- Genesis 25:27 Lit. complete
- Genesis 25:30 Lit. Red
- Genesis 25:33 Take an oath
Genesis 25
International Standard Version
Abraham Names Isaac to be His Heir
25 Abraham had taken another wife whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s descendants.
5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 6 While he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to his concubines[a] and sent them to the east country in order to keep them away from his son Isaac.
7 Abraham lived for 175 years,[b] 8 then passed away, dying at a ripe old age, having lived a full life, and joined his ancestors.[c] 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field that used to belong to Zohar the Hittite’s son Ephron. 10 This was the same field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites, where Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who continued to live near Beer-lahai-roi.
A Summary of Ishmael’s Life
12 Now this is what happened to Ishmael, whom Sarah’s Egyptian servant Hagar bore for Abraham. 13 Here’s a list of the names of Ishmael’s sons, recorded by their names and descendants: Nebaioth was the firstborn, followed by[d] Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s children, listed by their names according to their villages and their camps. There were a total of twelve tribal chiefs, according to their clans. 17 Ishmael lived[e] for 137 years, then he took his last breath, died, and joined his ancestors.[f] 18 His descendants[g] settled from Havilah to Shur (that’s near Egypt), all the way to Assyria, in defiance[h] of all of his relatives.
The Births of Esau and Jacob
19 This is the account of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married[i] Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean[j] from Paddan-aram[k] and sister of Laban the Aramean.[l] 21 Later, Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, since she was unable to conceive children, and the Lord responded to him—his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22 But when the infants[m] kept on wrestling each other inside her womb,[n] she asked herself, “Why is this happening?”[o] So she asked the Lord for an explanation.[p]
23 “Two nations[q] are in your womb,” the Lord responded, “and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger.”
24 Sure enough, when her due date arrived, she delivered twin sons.[r] 25 The first son came out reddish—his entire body was covered with hair—so they named him Esau.[s] 26 After that, his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob.[t] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 As the boys were growing up, Esau became skilled at hunting and was a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was the quiet type who tended to stay indoors. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he loved to hunt, while Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau happened to come in from being outdoors, and he was feeling famished.
30 Esau told Jacob, “Let me gobble down some of this red stuff, since I’m starving.” (That’s how Esau got his nickname “Edom”.)[u]
31 But Jacob responded, “Sell me your birthright. Do it now.”[v]
32 “Look! I’m about to die,” Esau replied. “What good is this birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob insisted, “Swear it by an oath right now.” So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some of his food, along with some boiled stew. So Esau ate, drank, got up, and left, after having belittled his own birthright.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:6 Lit. concubines whom Abraham had.
- Genesis 25:7 Lit. These are the days of Abraham’s years: 175 years
- Genesis 25:8 Lit. and he was gathered to his people
- Genesis 25:13 The Heb. lacks followed by
- Genesis 25:17 Lit. These are the years of Ishmael’s life
- Genesis 25:17 Lit. and he was gathered to his people
- Genesis 25:18 Lit. They
- Genesis 25:18 Lit. in the face of
- Genesis 25:20 Lit. took
- Genesis 25:20 In later centuries this region would be called Syria
- Genesis 25:20 Paddan-aram was located in northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 25:20 In later centuries this region would be called Syria
- Genesis 25:22 Lit. sons
- Genesis 25:22 Or within her
- Genesis 25:22 Lit. If so . . . why this I?
- Genesis 25:22 The Heb. lacks for an explanation
- Genesis 25:23 Or two infants
- Genesis 25:24 Lit. twins from her womb
- Genesis 25:25 The Heb. name Esau means hairy
- Genesis 25:26 The Heb. name Jacob means heel grabber
- Genesis 25:30 The Heb. name Edom means red
- Genesis 25:31 Lit. today
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