The Holy Bible

Genesis 25

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.

25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.

25:3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.

25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

25:6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubinesand sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

25:7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.

25:8 Then 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.

25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,

25:10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.[a]There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

25:11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael's Sons

25:12 This is the account of the family line of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.

25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar,Adbeel, Mibsam,

25:14 Mishma, Dumah,Massa,

25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

25:16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.

25:17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.

25:18 His 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[b] all the tribes related to them.

Jacob and Esau

25:19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham's son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,

25:20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram[c] and sister of Laban the Aramean.

25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lordanswered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

25:22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the Lord.

25:23 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."

25:24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.

25:25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.[d]

25:26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob.[e]Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

25:27 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.

25:28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

25:30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew!I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.[f])

25:31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright."

25:32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"

25:33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

25:34 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.

Footnotes:

a. Genesis 25:10 Or the descendants of Heth

b. Genesis 25:18 Or lived to the east of

c. Genesis 25:20 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia

d. Genesis 25:25 Esau may mean hairy.

e. Genesis 25:26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives.

f. Genesis 25:30 Edom means red.