Genesis 24:52-26:16

Contemporary English Version

⁵² Abraham's servant bowed down and thanked the Lord. ⁵³ Then he gave clothing, as well as silver and gold jewelry, to Rebekah. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and her mother.

⁵⁴ Abraham's servant and the men with him ate and drank, then spent the night there. The next morning they got up, and the servant told Rebekah's mother and brother, “I would like to go back to my master now.”

⁵⁵ “Let Rebekah stay with us for a week or ten days,” they answered. “Then she may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said, “Don't make me stay any longer. The Lord has already helped me find a wife for my master's son. Now let us return.”

⁵⁷ They answered, “Let's ask Rebekah what she wants to do.” ⁵⁸ They called her and asked, “Are you willing to leave with this man at once?”

“Yes,” she answered.

⁵⁹ So they agreed to let Rebekah and an old family servant woman^[a] leave immediately with Abraham's servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They gave Rebekah their blessing and said, “We pray that God will give you many children and grandchildren and that he will help them defeat their enemies.” ⁶¹ Afterwards, Rebekah and the young women who were to travel with her prepared to leave. Then they got on camels and left with Abraham's servant and his men.

⁶² At that time Isaac was living in the southern part of Canaan near a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”^{[b] 63-65} One evening he was walking^[c] out in the fields, when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels. So he started toward them. Rebekah saw him coming; she got down from her camel, and asked, “Who is that man?”

“He is my master Isaac,” the servant answered. Then Rebekah covered her face with her veil.^[d]

⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.

⁶⁷ Isaac took Rebekah into the tent^[e] where his mother had lived before she died, and Rebekah became his wife. He loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother.

Abraham Marries Keturah

25 Abraham married Keturah, ² and they had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Later, Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan, and when Dedan grew up, he had three sons: Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ Midian also had five sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.

^5-6 While Abraham was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of Hagar and Keturah. He also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son Isaac, and when Abraham died, he left everything to Isaac.

The Death of Abraham

^7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175. ^9-10 (A) His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him east of Hebron^[f] in Machpelah Cave that was part of the field Abraham had bought from Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham was buried there beside his wife Sarah. ¹¹ God blessed Isaac after this, and Isaac moved to a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”^[g]

Ishmael's Descendants

¹² Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, the slave woman of Sarah. ¹³ Ishmael had twelve sons, in this order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief, and a village was named after each of them.

^17-18 Ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers, and his sons^[h] settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt on the way to Asshur.^[i] Ishmael was 137 when he died.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ Isaac was the son of Abraham, ²⁰ and he was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean from northern Syria.^[j]

Almost 20 years later, ²¹ Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac asked the Lord to let her have a child, and the Lord answered his prayer.

²² Before Rebekah gave birth, she knew she was going to have twins, because she could feel them inside her, fighting each other. She thought, “Why is this happening to me?” Finally, she asked the Lord why her twins were fighting, ^23 (B) and he told her:

²⁴ When Rebekah gave birth, ²⁵ the first baby was covered with red hair, so he was named Esau.^{[l] 26} The second baby grabbed on to his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob.^[m] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son

²⁷ As Jacob and Esau grew older, Esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter, while Jacob lived the quiet life of a shepherd.^{[n] 28} Esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father Isaac, so Isaac loved him more, but Jacob was his mother's favorite son.

²⁹ One day, when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came home hungry ³⁰ and said, “I'm starving to death! Here and now give me some of that red stew!” That's how Esau got the name “Edom.”^[o]

³¹ Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.”^[p]

³² “I'm about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”

^33 (C) But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that's what Esau did. ³⁴ Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, ² because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said:

Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. ^3 (D) You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.

⁴ I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,^{[q] 5} because Abraham did everything I told him to do.

⁶ Isaac moved to Gerar ^7 (E) with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. ⁸ After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. ⁹ Abimelech called him in and said, “Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?”

“Because I thought someone would kill me,” Isaac answered.

¹⁰ “Don't you know what you've done?” Abimelech exclaimed. “If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!” ¹¹ Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.

¹² Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him, ¹³ and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. ¹⁴ In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, ¹⁵ and they stopped up the wells that Abraham's servants had dug before his death. ¹⁶ Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”