Genesis 25; Genesis 26

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Genesis 25

1 Abraham married another woman. Her name was Keturah.
2 She had Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah by Abraham.
3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The children of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.
4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All of them came from Keturah.
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines. Then he sent them away from his son Isaac. He sent them to the land of the east.
7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years.
8 He took his last breath and died when he was very old. He had lived a very long time. Then he joined the members of his family who had already died.
9 Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael buried his body. They put it in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre. It was in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite.
10 Abraham had bought it from the Hittites. He was buried there with his wife Sarah.
11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. At that time Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
12 Here is the story of Abraham's son Ishmael. Hagar had Ishmael by Abraham. She was Sarah's servant from Egypt.
13 Here are the names of the sons of Ishmael. They are listed in the order they were born. Nebaioth was Ishmael's oldest son. Then came Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
16 All of them were Ishmael's sons. They were rulers of 12 tribes. They all lived in their own settlements and camps.
17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined the members of his family who had already died.
18 His children settled in the area between Havilah and Shur. It was near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. Ishmael's children weren't friendly toward any of the tribes that were related to them.
19 Here is the story of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham was the father of Isaac.
20 Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. She was the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was also the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Rebekah couldn't have children. So Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. And the LORD answered his prayer. His wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22 The babies struggled with each other inside her. She said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to ask the LORD what she should do.
23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your body. Two tribes that are now inside you will be separated. One nation will be stronger than the other. The older son will serve the younger one."
24 The time came for Rebekah to have her babies. There were twin boys in her body.
25 The first one to come out was red. His whole body was covered with hair. So they named him Esau.
26 Then his brother came out. His hand was holding onto Esau's heel. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah had them.
27 The boys grew up. Esau became a skillful hunter. He was a man who liked the open country. But Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed at home among the tents.
28 Isaac liked the meat of wild animals. So Esau was his favorite son. But Rebekah's favorite was Jacob.
29 One day Jacob was cooking some stew. Esau came in from the open country. He was very hungry.
30 He said to Jacob, "Quick! Let me have some of that red stew! I'm very hungry!" That's why he was also named Edom.
31 Jacob replied, "First sell me the rights that belong to you as the oldest son in the family."
32 "Look, I'm dying of hunger," Esau said. "What good are those rights to me?"
33 But Jacob said, "First promise me with an oath that you are selling me your rights." So Esau promised to do it. He sold Jacob all of the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.
34 Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. Esau ate and drank. Then he got up and left. So Esau didn't care anything at all about the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.

Genesis 26

1 There was very little food in the land. The same thing had been true earlier, in Abraham's time. Isaac went to Abimelech in Gerar. Abimelech was the king of the Philistines.
2 The LORD appeared to Isaac. He said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live.
3 Stay here for a while. I will be with you and give you my blessing. I will give all of these lands to you and your children after you. And I will keep the promise I made with an oath to your father Abraham.
4 I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children.
5 "I will do all of those things because Abraham obeyed me. He did what I required. He kept my commands, my rules and my laws."
6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 The men of that place asked him about his wife. He said, "She's my sister." He was afraid to say, "She's my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah. She's a beautiful woman."
8 Isaac had been there a long time. One day Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked down from a window. He saw Isaac hugging and kissing his wife Rebekah.
9 So Abimelech sent for Isaac. He said, "She's really your wife, isn't she? Why did you say, 'She's my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "I thought I might lose my life because of her."
10 Then Abimelech said, "What have you done to us? What if one of the men had sex with your wife? Then you would have made us guilty."
11 So Abimelech gave orders to all of the people. He said, "You can be sure that anyone who harms this man or his wife will be put to death."
12 Isaac planted crops in that land. That same year he gathered 100 times more than he planted. That was because the LORD blessed him.
13 Isaac became rich. His wealth continued to grow until he became very rich.
14 He had many flocks and herds and servants. Isaac had so much that the Philistines became jealous of him.
15 So they stopped up all of the wells the servants of his father Abraham had dug. They filled them with dirt.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us. You have become too powerful for us."
17 So Isaac moved away from there. He camped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
18 Isaac opened up the wells again. They had been dug in the time of his father Abraham. The Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave the wells the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac's servants dug for wells in the valley. There they discovered a well of fresh water.
20 But the people of Gerar who took care of their herds argued with the people who took care of Isaac's herds. "The water is ours!" the people of Gerar said. So Isaac named the well Esek. That's because they argued with him.
21 Then Isaac's servants dug another well. They argued about that one too. So he named it Sitnah.
22 He moved on from there and dug another well. But no one argued about that one. So he named it Rehoboth. He said, "Now the LORD has given us room. Now we will do well in the land."
23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 That night the LORD appeared to him. He said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bless you. I will increase the number of your children because of my servant Abraham."
25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. There he set up his tent. And there his servants dug a well.
26 During that time, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar. Ahuzzath had come with him. So had Phicol, Abimelech's army commander. Ahuzzath was Abimelech's personal adviser.
27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me? You were angry with me and sent me away."
28 They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you. So we said, 'We should make an agreement by taking an oath.' The agreement should be between us and you. We want to make a peace treaty with you.
29 Promise that you won't harm us. We didn't harm you. We always treated you well. We sent you away in peace. Now the LORD has blessed you."
30 Then Isaac had a big dinner prepared for them. They ate and drank.
31 Early the next morning the men made an agreement with an oath. Then Isaac sent the men of Gerar on their way. And they left in peace.
32 That day Isaac's servants came to him. They told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!"
33 So he named it Shibah. To this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he got married to Judith. She was the daughter of Beeri the Hittite. He also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 Isaac and Rebekah became very upset because Esau had married Hittite women.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.