Genesis 25

Abraham Dies

1Abraham had married another woman. Her name was Keturah. 2She had Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah by Abraham. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The children of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All of them were members of Keturah’s family line.

5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6But 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.

7Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8He 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. 9Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him. They put his body in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre. It was in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite. 10Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites. He was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. At that time Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.

The Sons of Ishmael

12Here is the story of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s slave from Egypt.

13Here 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,

14Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

15Hadad, Tema, Jetur,

Naphish and Kedemah.

16All of them were Ishmael’s sons. They were rulers of 12 tribes. They all lived in their own settlements and camps.

17Ishmael 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. 18His children settled in the area between Havilah and Shur. It was near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. Ishmael’s children weren’t friendly toward any of the tribes related to them.

Jacob and Esau

19Here is the story of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham was the father of Isaac. 20Isaac 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.

21Rebekah couldn’t have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. And the Lord answered his prayer. His wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22The 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.

23The 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.”

24The time came for Rebekah to have her babies. There were twin boys in her body. 25The first one to come out was red. His whole body was covered with hair. So they named him Esau. 26Then 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.

27The boys grew up. Esau became a skillful hunter. He liked the open country. But Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28Isaac liked the meat of wild animals. So Esau was his favorite son. But Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.

29One day Jacob was cooking some stew. Esau came in from the open country. He was very hungry. 30He said to Jacob, “Quick! I’m very hungry! Let me have some of that red stew!” That’s why he was also named Edom.

31Jacob 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?”

33But Jacob said, “First promise to sell me your rights.” So Esau promised to do it. He sold Jacob all the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.

34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. Esau ate and drank. Then he got up and left.

So Esau didn’t value the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.

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Genesis 25: NIrV

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Genesis 25

Abraham had other sons

1Abraham married another woman too. Her name was Keturah. 2Abraham and Keturah had 6 sons together. Their names were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuwah.

3After Jokshan grew up, he had 2 sons. Their names were Sheba and Dedan. The tribes that were from Dedan and his family were the Ashur mob, the Letush mob, and the Leyum mob.

4After Midian grew up, he had 5 sons. Their names were Efah, Efer, Hanok, Abida, and Eldah.

All of those men were Keturah’s sons and grand-sons.

5One day Abraham said, “After I die, I want my son Isaac to have everything that I own. He is the son of my 1st wife Sarah.” 6But Abraham wanted to be good to his other sons too, those sons that he had with his other wives. So Abraham gave presents to those other sons. Then he sent them to go and live in a country to the east, a long way away from his son Isaac.

Abraham died

7-8Abraham lived a long time, until he was a very old man. He lived until he was 175 years old. He had a good long life, then he breathed for the last time, and he died.

9-10Then Abraham’s 2 oldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael, they took Abraham’s body to the cave at the place called Makpelah, to the east of the place called Mamreh. You see, a long time before that, Abraham bought that cave and the land around it from a man called Efron. Efron’s father was called Zohar, and they were from the Heth tribe. And Abraham put his wife Sarah’s body in that cave. So after Abraham died, Isaac and Ishmael put his body in that cave, next to Sarah’s body.#Genesis 23:3-16

11After that, Abraham’s son Isaac went to live near the water-hole called the water-hole that belongs to God, he is alive and sees me. And God kept on being good to Isaac.#Genesis 16:14

The story of Ishmael’s family

12This is the story about Ishmael’s family. Ishmael was Abraham’s oldest son, and his mother’s name was Hagar. Hagar was from Egypt country, and she worked for Abraham’s wife Sarah.

13Ishmael had 12 sons. His oldest son was called Nebayoth, and his next son was called Kedar, then Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Nafish, and Kedemah. 16Later on, those 12 sons of Ishmael became the bosses of 12 tribes, and all those tribes lived in their own camps.

17Ishmael lived until he was 137 years old. Then he breathed for the last time, and he died.

18Ishmael’s sons and their tribes, they went and lived far away from their other relatives. They went and lived between the place called Havilah and the place called Shur, near Egypt country. Shur is also near the place called Ashur.

Isaac and Rebekah had 2 sons

19This is the story about Abraham’s son Isaac and his family.

20When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Her family was from the Aram tribe, and they lived in Paddan Aram country. Her father’s name was Bethuel, and her brother’s name was Laban.

21At first, after Isaac and Rebekah got married, they didn’t have any kids. Rebekah just couldn’t have a baby. So Isaac prayed strongly to God. He said, “Please let Rebekah have a baby.” God listened to Isaac, and God made 2 baby boys start growing inside Rebekah. 22But while those babies were still inside her, they started to fight with each other. Rebekah felt them moving inside her, and she was worried about it. So she said to God, “Why is this happening to me?”

23God said to Rebekah,

“There are 2 babies inside you. They will grow up and have kids, and their kids will become 2 nations.

Right from the start, those 2 nations will fight against each other.

One of those nations will be stronger than the other nation.

Yes, the younger son’s nation will be stronger, and his nation will be boss over the older son’s nation.”#Romans 9:12

24Later on, the time came for Rebekah to have her babies, and 2 boys were born. 25The 1st baby that was born, his skin colour was a bit red. He also had hair all over his body, like an animal skin. Isaac and Rebekah named that baby Esau. 26Straight away, the 2nd baby was born. And when that baby came out, he was holding the back of Esau’s foot. So Isaac and Rebekah named that baby Jacob. That name means he holds the back of the foot.

Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah had those 2 babies.

Esau let Jacob be the next leader for their family

27Isaac and Rebekah’s sons grew up and became men. Their son Esau became a good hunter. He liked to go out bush and catch wild animals to eat. But their son Jacob was a quiet man, and he liked to stay at their camp.

28Isaac loved to eat the wild animals that Esau caught. So Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob. But Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau.

29One day, while Esau was out bush, Jacob cooked some soup with red beans in it. While Jacob was cooking that soup, Esau came back home, and he was really tired and hungry. 30-34So Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me eat some of that red soup right now. I’m really tired and hungry.”#Hebrews 12:16

Jacob said to Esau, “First, I want you to do something for me. You are the oldest son in our family. That means you are the most important son, and you will be the next leader for our family. But I want to be the most important son, instead of you. I want to be the next leader for our family. So you have to promise that you will let me be the most important son now, instead of you. Then you can eat some soup.”

Esau said, “Look, I’m so tired and hungry that I’m going to die. So it doesn’t matter if I stop being the next leader for our family. I just need some food right now.”

But Jacob said, “First, you have to make me that strong promise.” So Esau did what Jacob asked. He said to Jacob, “I promise that you can be the most important son in our family, instead of me, and you can be the next leader for our family.” Then Jacob gave Esau some of that soup with red beans in it, and some bread. Esau ate that red soup and bread, and then he got up and left.

That’s the story about how Esau let Jacob be the most important son. So Esau wasn’t the most important son any more, but he didn’t care.

Later on, people sometimes called Esau a different name. They called him Edom. That name means red, like that red soup.

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