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
Genesis 25
EasyEnglish Bible
Abraham dies
25 Abraham then married another woman. Her name was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan later became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 Midian had sons who were called Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All those were descendants of Abraham's wife, Keturah. 5 When Abraham died, he left everything that belonged to him to Isaac. 6 But while he was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of his slave wives. He sent these sons away to the land of the east. He wanted to keep them far away from Isaac.
7 Abraham lived for 175 years. 8 He died after a good and long life, when he was very old. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. 9 His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried his body in the cave of Machpelah. That was near Mamre. The cave is in the field that belonged to Zohar's son, Ephron. He was a Hittite. 10 Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites.
So they buried Abraham there. It was in the cave where his wife, Sarah, had also been buried.
11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son, Isaac. Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.
Ishmael's family
12 This is the report about Abraham's son, Ishmael, and his family.
Sarah's female servant gave birth to Ishmael. Her name was Hagar. She was from Egypt. 13 These are the names of Ishmael's sons. The list starts from the firstborn son and ends with the last son. Nebaioth was the first son of Ishmael. Then there were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were all Ishmael's sons. Their names became the names of 12 groups of people. They separated and lived in their own lands. Ishmael's sons ruled over the 12 groups of people. 17 Ishmael lived for 137 years then he died. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. 18 Ishmael's descendants lived in the lands from Havilah to Shur. These are near Egypt, towards Asshur. They were always at war with each other.[a]
Jacob and Esau
19 This is the report about Abraham's son, Isaac, and his family.
Abraham became the father of Isaac. 20 When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah. The Lord did as Isaac asked. And Isaac's wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. 22 The babies inside her were fighting with each other. Rebekah said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So Rebekah went to ask the Lord. 23 The Lord said to Rebekah, ‘The two children who are in your body will become two separate nations of people. One group will be stronger than the other. The older son will become a servant to the younger son.’[b]
24 The time came for Rebekah to give birth. There were two babies inside her. 25 The first baby to come out had a red body. Hair covered the whole of his body. They called him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out. His hand was holding the back of Esau's foot. They called him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 Time passed and the boys grew. Esau became a good hunter, out in the fields. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed near to the tents. 28 Isaac liked to eat the meat from the animals that Esau killed. So he loved Esau. But Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 One day, Jacob was cooking a meal. Esau came back from the country. He was very hungry. 30 He said to Jacob ‘Quick, let me have some of that red food! I am very hungry.’ (That is why he was also called Edom.)[c] 31 Jacob said, ‘You must first sell me your birthright.’[d]
32 Esau said, ‘Look, I am so hungry that I will die. Then my birthright will not help me at all!’
33 Jacob said, ‘First, make a serious promise to me.’ So Esau promised to sell his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and the soup made from grains. Esau ate the food and he drank. Then he got up and he left.
In that way, Esau showed that he did not think that his birthright was important.[e]
Footnotes
- 25:18 The Lord had told Hagar about this in Genesis 16:12.
- 25:23 At that time, the youngest son would always be a servant to the oldest son. But this time, God chose the youngest son to be master over the oldest son.
- 25:30 Edom means red.
- 25:31 In the Old Testament, the oldest son had the birthright. This means that he would be the leader of his family when his father died. And he would get two parts of the things that had belonged to his father.
- 25:34 Now Jacob had the birthright. Jacob was the younger son. Jacob would receive God's promise that he had made with Abraham. This promise was also for Isaac. When Isaac died, it would pass to Jacob. This is what God had told Rebekah. See verse 23.
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