The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.
1
Abraham married another woman, whose name was Keturah.
2 She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.
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She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3 And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.
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Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
4 And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah.
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The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were Keturah's descendants.
5 Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac;
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Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac;
6 But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent them away, while he was still living, into the east country.
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but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.
7 Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five.
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Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175.
8 And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and he was put to rest with his people.
9 And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, near Mamre;
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His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah Cave, in the field east of Mamre that had belonged to Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
10 The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth: there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife.
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It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; both Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.
11 Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with Isaac, his son.
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After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."
12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah:
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Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham,
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam
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had the following sons, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
14 And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
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Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
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Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their peoples.
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They were the ancestors of twelve tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping places.
17 And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with his people.
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Ishmael was 137 years old when he died.
18 And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.
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The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.
19 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac:
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This is the story of Abraham's son Isaac.
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Aramaean, to be his wife.
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Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.
21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child.
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Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.
22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord.
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She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, "Why should something like this happen to me?" So she went to ask the Lord for an answer.
23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.
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The Lord said to her, "Two nations are within you; You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other; The older will serve the younger."
24 And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body.
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The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons.
25 And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau.
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The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau.
26 And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
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The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
27 And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.
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The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.
28 Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob.
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Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.
29 And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food;
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One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom.
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and said to Jacob, "I'm starving; give me some of that red stuff." (That is why he was named Edom. )
31 And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.
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Jacob answered, "I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son."
32 And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me?
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Esau said, "All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?"
33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.
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Jacob answered, "First make a vow that you will give me your rights." Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.
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Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.