Genesis 25

EasyEnglish Bible

Abraham dies

25 Abraham then married another woman. Her name was Keturah. ² She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan later became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. ⁴ Midian had sons who were called Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All those were descendants of Abraham's wife, Keturah. ⁵ When Abraham died, he left everything that belonged to him to Isaac. ⁶ But while he was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of his slave wives. He sent these sons away to the land of the east. He wanted to keep them far away from Isaac.

⁷ Abraham lived for 175 years. ⁸ He died after a good and long life, when he was very old. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. ⁹ His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried his body in the cave of Machpelah. That was near Mamre. The cave is in the field that belonged to Zohar's son, Ephron. He was a Hittite. ¹⁰ Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites.

So they buried Abraham there. It was in the cave where his wife, Sarah, had also been buried.

¹¹ After Abraham's death, God blessed his son, Isaac. Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael's family

¹² This is the report about Abraham's son, Ishmael, and his family.

Sarah's female servant gave birth to Ishmael. Her name was Hagar. She was from Egypt. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael's sons. The list starts from the firstborn son and ends with the last son. Nebaioth was the first son of Ishmael. Then there were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were all Ishmael's sons. Their names became the names of 12 groups of people. They separated and lived in their own lands. Ishmael's sons ruled over the 12 groups of people. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived for 137 years then he died. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. ¹⁸ Ishmael's descendants lived in the lands from Havilah to Shur. These are near Egypt, towards Asshur. They were always at war with each other.^[a]

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ This is the report about Abraham's son, Isaac, and his family.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah. The Lord did as Isaac asked. And Isaac's wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. ²² The babies inside her were fighting with each other. Rebekah said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So Rebekah went to ask the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to Rebekah, ‘The two children who are in your body will become two separate nations of people. One group will be stronger than the other. The older son will become a servant to the younger son.’^[b]

²⁴ The time came for Rebekah to give birth. There were two babies inside her. ²⁵ The first baby to come out had a red body. Hair covered the whole of his body. They called him Esau. ²⁶ After this, his brother came out. His hand was holding the back of Esau's foot. They called him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ Time passed and the boys grew. Esau became a good hunter, out in the fields. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed near to the tents. ²⁸ Isaac liked to eat the meat from the animals that Esau killed. So he loved Esau. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ One day, Jacob was cooking a meal. Esau came back from the country. He was very hungry. ³⁰ He said to Jacob ‘Quick, let me have some of that red food! I am very hungry.’ (That is why he was also called Edom.)^{[c] 31} Jacob said, ‘You must first sell me your birthright.’^[d]

³² Esau said, ‘Look, I am so hungry that I will die. Then my birthright will not help me at all!’

³³ Jacob said, ‘First, make a serious promise to me.’ So Esau promised to sell his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and the soup made from grains. Esau ate the food and he drank. Then he got up and he left.

In that way, Esau showed that he did not think that his birthright was important.^[e]