The Daily Audio Bible
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52 When Abraham’s servant heard their answer, he bowed down to the Lord. 53 The servant took out gold and silver jewelry and clothes and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave expensive presents to her brother and mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me go back to my master.”
55 Her brother and mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us ten days or so. After that she may go.”
56 He said to them, “Don’t delay me now that the Lord has made my trip successful. Let me go back to my master.”
57 So they said, “We’ll call the girl and ask her.”
58 They called for Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
She said, “Yes, I’ll go.”
59 So they let their sister Rebekah and her nurse go with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They gave Rebekah a blessing:
“May you, our sister, become the mother of many thousands of children.
May your descendants take possession of their enemies’ cities.”
61 Then Rebekah and her maids left. Riding on camels, they followed the man. The servant took Rebekah and left.
Isaac and Rebekah Are Married
62 Isaac had just come back from Beer Lahai Roi, since he was living in the Negev. 63 Toward evening Isaac went out into the field to meditate. When he looked up, he saw camels coming. 64 When Rebekah saw Isaac, she got down from her camel. 65 She asked the servant, “Who is that man over there coming through the field to meet us?”
“That is my master,” the servant answered. Then she took her veil and covered herself. 66 The servant reported to Isaac everything he had done. 67 Isaac took her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He married Rebekah. She became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Abraham’s Second Marriage and His Death(A)
25 Abraham married again, and his wife’s name was Keturah. 2 Keturah gave birth to these sons of Abraham: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Assyrians, the Letushites, and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were the descendants of Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he had to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, Abraham had given gifts to the sons of his concubines.[a] He sent them away from his son Isaac to a land in the east.
7 Abraham lived 175 years. 8 Then he took his last breath, and died at a very old age. After a long and full life, he joined his ancestors in death. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite. The cave is east of Mamre. 10 This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer Lahai Roi.
The 12 Tribes of Ishmael(B)
12 This is the account of the descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. He was the son of Sarah’s Egyptian slave Hagar and Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and their names listed by their settlements and camps—12 leaders of their tribes.
17 Ishmael lived 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death. 18 His descendants lived as nomads from the region of Havilah to Shur, which is near Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. They all fought with each other.
Esau and Jacob
19 This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants. Abraham was the father of Isaac. 20 Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 When the children inside her were struggling with each other, she said, “If it’s like this now, what will become of me?” So she went to ask the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two countries are in your womb.
Two nations will go their separate ways from birth.
One nation will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, she had twins. 25 The first one born was red. His whole body was covered with hair, so they named him Esau [Hairy]. 26 Afterwards, his brother was born with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, and so he was named Jacob [Heel]. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 They grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman. Jacob remained a quiet man, staying around the tents. 28 Because Isaac liked to eat the meat of wild animals, he loved Esau. However, Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once, Jacob was preparing a meal when Esau, exhausted, came in from outdoors. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me have the whole pot of red stuff to eat—that red stuff—I’m exhausted.” This is why he was called Edom.[b]
31 Jacob responded, “First, sell me your rights as firstborn.”
32 “I’m about to die.” Esau said. “What good is my inheritance to me?”
33 “First, swear an oath,” Jacob said. So Esau swore an oath to him and sold him his rights as firstborn. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau a meal of bread and lentils. He ate and drank, and then he got up and left.
This is how Esau showed his contempt for his rights as firstborn.
The Lord’s First Promise to Isaac
26 There was a famine in the land in addition to the earlier one during Abraham’s time. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in Gerar.
2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay where I tell you. 3 Live here in this land for a while, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and give all these lands to your descendants. Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 5 I will bless you because Abraham obeyed me and completed the duties, commands, laws, and instructions I gave him.” 6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.
Isaac and Rebekah at Gerar
7 When the men of that place asked about his wife, Isaac answered, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “my wife.” He thought that the men of that place would kill him to get Rebekah, because she was an attractive woman. 8 When he had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of his window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
9 Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “So she’s really your wife! How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “I thought I would be killed because of her.”
10 Then Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of the people might have easily gone to bed with your wife, and then you would have made us guilty of sin.” 11 So Abimelech ordered his people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted ⌞crops⌟ in that land. In that same year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him. 13 He continued to be successful, becoming very rich. 14 Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So the Philistines filled in all the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime.
16 Finally, Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.”
18 Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he ordered ⌞his disciples⌟ to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
What It Takes to Be a Disciple(A)
19 An expert in Moses’ Teachings came to him and said, “Teacher, I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms the Sea(B)
23 Jesus’ disciples went with him as he left in a boat. 24 Suddenly, a severe storm came across the sea. The waves were covering the boat. Yet, Jesus was sleeping.
25 So they woke him up, saying, “Lord! Save us! We’re going to die!”
26 Jesus said to them, “Why do you cowards have so little faith?” Then he got up, gave an order to the wind and the sea, and the sea became very calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Cures Two Demon-Possessed Men(C)
28 When he arrived in the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side ⌞of the Sea of Galilee⌟, two men met him. They were possessed by demons and had come out of the tombs. No one could travel along that road because the men were so dangerous.
29 They shouted, “Why are you bothering us now, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before it is time?”
30 A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you’re going to force us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 Jesus said to them, “Go!” The demons came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water. 33 Those who took care of the pigs ran into the city. There they reported everything, especially about the men possessed by demons.
34 Everyone from the city went to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.
10 Why are you so distant, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked person arrogantly pursues oppressed people.
He will be caught in the schemes that he planned.
3 The wicked person boasts about his selfish desires.
He blesses robbers, but he curses the Lord.
4 He turns up his nose ⌞and says⌟, “God doesn’t care.”
His every thought ⌞concludes⌟, “There is no God.”
5 He always seems to succeed.
Your judgments are beyond his understanding.
He spits at all his opponents.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing can shake me.
I’ll never face any trouble.”
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deception, and oppression.
Trouble and wrongdoing are on the tip of his tongue.
8 He waits in ambush in the villages.
From his hiding places he kills innocent people.
His eyes are on the lookout for victims.
9 He lies in his hiding place like a lion in his den.
He hides there to catch oppressed people.
He catches oppressed people when he draws them into his net.
10 ⌞His⌟ victims are crushed.
They collapse,
and they fall under ⌞the weight of⌟ his power.
11 He says to himself,
“God has forgotten.
He has hidden his face.
He will never see it!”
12 Arise, O Lord!
Lift your hand, O God.
Do not forget oppressed people!
13 Why does the wicked person despise God?
Why does he say to himself, “God doesn’t care”?
14 You have seen ⌞it⌟; yes, you have taken note of trouble and grief
and placed them under your control.
The victim entrusts himself to you.
You alone have been the helper of orphans.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil person.
Punish his wickedness until you find no more.
7 Do not consider yourself wise.
Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 ⌞Then⌟ your body will be healed,
and your bones will have nourishment.
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