Genesis 25:1-34
Abraham Dies
Abraham had married another woman. Her name was Keturah. She had Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah by Abraham. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The children of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All of them were members of Keturah’s family line.
Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines. Then he sent them away from his son Isaac. He sent them to the land of the east.
Abraham lived a total of 175 years. He took his last breath and died when he was very old. He had lived a very long time. Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him. They put his body in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre. It was in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite. Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites. He was buried there with his wife Sarah. After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. At that time Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.
The Sons of Ishmael
Here is the story of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s slave from Egypt.
Here are the names of the sons of Ishmael. They are listed in the order they were born.
Nebaioth was Ishmael’s oldest son.
Then came Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
Hadad, Tema, Jetur,
Naphish and Kedemah.
All of them were Ishmael’s sons. They were rulers of 12 tribes. They all lived in their own settlements and camps.
Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined the members of his family who had already died. His children settled in the area between Havilah and Shur. It was near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. Ishmael’s children weren’t friendly toward any of the tribes related to them.
Jacob and Esau
Here is the story of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. She was the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was also the sister of Laban, the Aramean.
Rebekah couldn’t have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. And the Lord answered his prayer. His wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies struggled with each other inside her. She said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to ask the Lord what she should do.
The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your body.
Two tribes that are now inside you will be separated.
One nation will be stronger than the other.
The older son will serve the younger one.”
The time came for Rebekah to have her babies. There were twin boys in her body. The first one to come out was red. His whole body was covered with hair. So they named him Esau. Then his brother came out. His hand was holding onto Esau’s heel. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah had them.
The boys grew up. Esau became a skillful hunter. He liked the open country. But Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac liked the meat of wild animals. So Esau was his favorite son. But Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
One day Jacob was cooking some stew. Esau came in from the open country. He was very hungry. He said to Jacob, “Quick! I’m very hungry! Let me have some of that red stew!” That’s why he was also named Edom.
Jacob replied, “First sell me the rights that belong to you as the oldest son in the family.”
“Look, I’m dying of hunger,” Esau said. “What good are those rights to me?”
But Jacob said, “First promise to sell me your rights.” So Esau promised to do it. He sold Jacob all the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. Esau ate and drank. Then he got up and left.
So Esau didn’t value the rights that belonged to him as the oldest son.
Genesis 26:1-35
Isaac and Abimelek
There was very little food in the land. The same thing had been true earlier, in Abraham’s time. Isaac went to Abimelek in Gerar. Abimelek was the king of the Philistines. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay there for a while. I will be with you and give you my blessing. I will give all these lands to you and your children after you. And I will keep my word that I gave to your father Abraham. I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. I will do all these things because Abraham obeyed me. He did everything I required. He kept my commands, my rules and my instructions.” So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
The men of that place asked him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She’s my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah. She’s a beautiful woman.”
Isaac had been there a long time. One day Abimelek, the king of the Philistines, looked down from a window. He saw Isaac hugging and kissing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelek sent for Isaac. He said, “She’s really your wife, isn’t she? Why did you say she was your sister?”
Isaac answered him, “I thought I might lose my life because of her.”
Then Abimelek said, “What have you done to us? What if one of the men slept with your wife? Then you would have made us guilty.”
So Abimelek gave orders to all the people. He said, “Anyone who harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
Isaac planted crops in that land. That same year he gathered 100 times more than he planted. That was because the Lord blessed him. Isaac became rich. His wealth continued to grow until he became very rich. He had many flocks and herds and servants. Isaac had so much that the Philistines became jealous of him. So they stopped up all the wells the servants of his father Abraham had dug. They filled them with dirt.
Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us. You have become too powerful for us.”
So Isaac moved away from there. He camped in the Valley of Gerar, where he made his home. Isaac opened up the wells again. They had been dug in the time of his father Abraham. The Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave the wells the same names his father had given them.
Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley. There they discovered fresh water. But the people of Gerar who took care of their own herds argued with the people who took care of Isaac’s herds. “The water is ours!” the people of Gerar said. So Isaac named the well Esek. That’s because they argued with him. Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. They argued about that one too. So he named it Sitnah. Isaac moved on from there and dug another well. But no one argued about that one. So he named it Rehoboth. He said, “Now the Lord has given us room. Now we will be successful in the land.”
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bless you. I will increase the number of your children because of my servant Abraham.”
Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. There he set up his tent. And there his servants dug a well.
During that time, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar. His personal adviser, Ahuzzath, had come with him. So had his army commander, Phicol. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You were angry with me and sent me away.”
They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘There should be an agreement between us and you.’ We want to make a peace treaty with you. Give us your word that you won’t harm us. We didn’t harm you. We always treated you well. We sent you away peacefully. And now the Lord has blessed you.”
Then Isaac had a feast prepared for them. They ate and drank. Early the next morning the men made a treaty with each other. Then Isaac sent the men of Gerar on their way. And they left peacefully.
That day Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” So he named it Shibah. To this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
When Esau was 40 years old, he got married to Judith. She was the daughter of Beeri the Hittite. Esau also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Isaac and Rebekah became very upset because Esau had married Hittite women.
