Abraham and Keturah

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

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

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

All these were descendants of Keturah.

⁵ Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ But 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

⁷ Abraham lived a total of 175 years. ⁸ And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

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. ¹⁰ This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

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

The Descendants of Ishmael

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

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

¹⁸ Ishmael’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

¹⁹ This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and 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.

²¹ Later, 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.

²² But 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, ²³ and 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.”

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first one came out red, covered with hair^* like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.²⁶ After 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.

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

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹ One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. ³⁰ He 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. ³⁴ Then 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.