Genesis 25
Living Bible
25 1-2 Now Abraham married again. Keturah was his new wife, and she bore him several children: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah. 3 Jokshan’s two sons were Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.[a]
5 Abraham deeded everything he owned to Isaac; 6 however, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off into the east, away from Isaac.
7-8 Then Abraham died, at the ripe old age of 175, 9-10 and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Mach-pelah near Mamre, in the field Abraham had purchased from Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite, where Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was buried.
11 After Abraham’s death, God poured out rich blessings upon Isaac. (Isaac had now moved south to Beer-lahai-roi in the Negeb.)
12-15 Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave girl: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. 16 These twelve sons of his became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names. 17 Ishmael finally died at the age of 137, and joined his ancestors.[b] 18 These descendants of Ishmael were scattered across the country from Havilah to Shur (which is a little way to the northeast of the Egyptian border in the direction of Assyria). And they were constantly at war with one another.
19 This is the story of Isaac’s children: 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram. Rebekah was the sister of Laban. 21 Isaac pleaded with Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage[c] she had no children. Then at last she became pregnant. 22 And it seemed as though children were fighting each other inside her!
“I can’t endure this,” she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.
23 And he told her, “The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger!”
24 And sure enough, she had twins. 25 The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him “Esau.”[d] 26 Then the other twin was born with his hand on Esau’s heel! So they called him Jacob (meaning “Grabber”). Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27 As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home. 28 Isaac’s favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
29 One day Jacob was cooking stew when Esau arrived home exhausted from the hunt.
30 Esau: “Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!” (From this came his nickname “Edom,” which means “Red Stuff.”)
31 Jacob: “All right, trade me your birthright for it!”
32 Esau: “When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?”
33 Jacob: “Well then, vow to God that it is mine!”
And Esau vowed, thereby selling all his eldest-son rights to his younger brother. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew; so he ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away.[e]
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:4 Midian’s sons were . . . and Eldaah. The text adds, “All these were the children of Keturah.”
- Genesis 25:17 and joined his ancestors, literally, “and was gathered to his people.”
- Genesis 25:21 even after many years of marriage, implied in vv. 20 and 26.
- Genesis 25:25 Esau sounds a little like the Hebrew word for “hair.”
- Genesis 25:34 indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away, literally, “thus did Esau consider his birthright to be of no value.”
Genesis 25
Tree of Life Version
Abraham’s Old Age and Descendants
25 Now Abraham took another wife—her name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. 5 Now Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac, 6 but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham had given gifts and sent them away from his son Isaac while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.
7 Now these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life that he lived: 175 years. 8 So Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, old and satisfied. Then he was gathered to his peoples. 9 Then Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, next to Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham bought from the sons of Heth. There Abraham is buried along with Sarah his wife.
11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived near Beer-lahai-roi.
12 Now these are the genealogies of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their descendants: Ishmael’s firstborn, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedem. 16 These are Ishmael’s sons and these are their names, by their unwalled and walled settlements, twelve princes according to their clans. 17 These are the years of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He breathed his last, died and was gathered to his peoples. 18 Then they dwelled from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria. Over against all his brothers he fell.
Parashat Toledot
Esau and Jacob
19 Now these are the genealogies of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was 40 years old when he took for himself Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 Isaac prayed to Adonai on behalf of his wife because she was barren. Adonai answered his plea and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22 But the children struggled with one another inside her, and she said, “If it’s like this, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai. 23 Adonai said to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from your body
will be separated.
One people will be stronger
than the other people,
but the older will serve the younger.”
24 When her time came to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came out reddish, all of him was like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel—so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when he fathered them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a man knowledgeable in hunting, an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a mild man, remaining in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Now Jacob cooked a stew. When Esau came in from the field, he was exhausted, 30 so Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of this really red stuff, because I’m exhausted”—that is why he is called Edom.
31 So Jacob said, “Sell your birthright to me today.”
32 Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. Of whatever use is this to me—a birthright?”
33 Jacob said, “Make a pledge to me now.”
So he made a pledge to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. [a] 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
Footnotes
- Genesis 25:34 cf. Heb. 12:16.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.