Genesis 25: Abraham dies; twins born

Abraham and Keturah

¹Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah, ²and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.

⁴The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.

All these were descendants of Keturah.

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

The Death of Abraham

⁷Abraham lived a total of 175 years. ⁸And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and 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. ¹⁰This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

¹¹After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

The Descendants of Ishmael

¹²This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes. ¹⁷Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

¹⁸Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

²¹Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

²²But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, ²³and He declared 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 her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. ²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. ²⁸Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. ³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

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

³²“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

³³“Swear to me first,” Jacob said.

So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. ³⁴Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.