Genesis 25

The Death of Abraham

1Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

7Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.#25:10 Or the descendants of Heth There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael’s Sons

12This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.

13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward#25:18 Or lived to the east of all the tribes related to them.

Jacob and Esau

19This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram#25:20 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia and sister of Laban the Aramean.

21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

23The 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.”

24When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.#25:25 Esau may mean hairy. 26After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.#25:26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

27The 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. 28Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.#25:30 Edom means red.)

31Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

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

So Esau despised his birthright.

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Genesis 25: NIV

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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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