Jacob and Esau
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,
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and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
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Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
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The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
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The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
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When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
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The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.
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After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
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The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.
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Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
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Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.
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He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. )
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Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
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“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
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But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
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Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.