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Abraham married another woman, whose name was Keturah.
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She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
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Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
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The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were Keturah's descendants.
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Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac;
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but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.
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Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175.
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His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah Cave, in the field east of Mamre that had belonged to Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
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It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; both Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.
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After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."
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Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham,
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had the following sons, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
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Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
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They were the ancestors of twelve tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping places.
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Ishmael was 137 years old when he died.
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The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.
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This is the story of Abraham's son Isaac.
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Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.
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Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.
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She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, "Why should something like this happen to me?" So she went to ask the LORD for an answer.
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The LORD said to her, "Two nations are within you; You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other; The older will serve the younger."
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The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons.
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The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau.
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The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
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The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.
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Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.
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One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry
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and said to Jacob, "I'm starving; give me some of that red stuff." (That is why he was named Edom. )
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Jacob answered, "I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son."
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Esau said, "All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?"
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Jacob answered, "First make a vow that you will give me your rights." Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob.
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Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.
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There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
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The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.
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Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.
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I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.
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I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."
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So Isaac lived at Gerar.
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When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.
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When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love.
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Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife."
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"What have you done to us?" Abimelech said. "One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt."
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Abimelech warned all the people: "Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death."
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Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the LORD blessed him.
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He continued to prosper and became a very rich man.
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Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.
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So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.
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Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are."
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So Isaac left and set up his camp in Gerar Valley, where he stayed for some time.
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He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
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Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley and found water.
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The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and said, "This water belongs to us." So Isaac named the well "Quarrel."
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Isaac's servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it "Enmity."
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He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it "Freedom." He said, "Now the LORD has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here."
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Isaac left and went to Beersheba.
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That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."
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Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.
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Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac.
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So Isaac asked, "Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?"
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They answered, "Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise
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that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you go peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you."
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Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
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Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.
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On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, "We have found water."
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He named the well "Vow." That is how the city of Beersheba got its name.
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When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittites, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon.
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They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.
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Isaac was now old and had become blind. He sent for his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes," he answered.
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Isaac said, "You see that I am old and may die soon.
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Take your bow and arrows, go out into the country, and kill an animal for me.
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Cook me some of that tasty food that I like, and bring it to me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my final blessing before I die."
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While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca was listening. So when Esau went out to hunt,
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she said to Jacob, "I have just heard your father say to Esau,
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'Bring me an animal and cook it for me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.'
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Now, son," Rebecca continued, "listen to me and do what I say.
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Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats, so that I can cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.
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You can take it to him to eat, and he will give you his blessing before he dies."
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But Jacob said to his mother, "You know that Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin.
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Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him; in this way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing."
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His mother answered, "Let any curse against you fall on me, my son; just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me."
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So he went to get them and brought them to her, and she cooked the kind of food that his father liked.
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Then she took Esau's best clothes, which she kept in the house, and put them on Jacob.
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She put the skins of the goats on his arms and on the hairless part of his neck.
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She handed him the tasty food, along with the bread she had baked.
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Then Jacob went to his father and said, "Father!" "Yes," he answered. "Which of my sons are you?"
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Jacob answered, "I am your older son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing."
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Isaac said, "How did you find it so quickly, son?" Jacob answered, "The LORD your God helped me find it."
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Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?"
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Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms feel like Esau's arms."
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He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. He was about to give him his blessing,
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but asked again, "Are you really Esau?" "I am," he answered.
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Isaac said, "Bring me some of the meat. After I eat it, I will give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink.
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Then his father said to him, "Come closer and kiss me, son."
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As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes---so he gave him his blessing. He said, "The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
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May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine!
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May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed."
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Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
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He also cooked some tasty food and took it to his father. He said, "Please, father, sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing."
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"Who are you?" Isaac asked. "Your older son Esau," he answered.
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Isaac began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, "Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever."
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When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, "Give me your blessing also, father!"
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Isaac answered, "Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing."
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Esau said, "This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"
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Isaac answered, "I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!"
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Esau continued to plead with his father: "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!" He began to cry.
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Then Isaac said to him, "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.
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You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."
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Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."
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But when Rebecca heard about Esau's plan, she sent for Jacob and said, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.
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Now, son, do what I say. Go at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
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and stay with him for a while, until your brother's anger cools down
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and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send someone to bring you back. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?"
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Rebecca said to Isaac, "I am sick and tired of Esau's foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittites, I might as well die."
