Genesis 26:14 T 27
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.
The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The
babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to
me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said 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 the time came for her to give b
irth, t here were twin boys in her
womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy
garment; so they named him Esau. a 26 After this, his brother came out, with
his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. b Isaac was sixty years
old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open
country, while Jacob was content to stay at home a
mong the t ents. 28 Isaac,
who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open
country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red
stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. c )
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me f irst.” So he s wore an oath to him, selling
his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some b
read and some lentil stew. He ate and d
rank,
and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Isaac and Abimelek
26
Now there was a famine in the land — besides the previous famine in
Abraham’s time — and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in
Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in
the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with
you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these
lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make
your descendants as numerous as the s tars in the sky and will give them all
these lands, and through your offspring d all nations on earth will be blessed, e
5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping
my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my
sister,” because he was a
fraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men
of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8 When I saac had been there a long time, Abime l ek king of the Philistines
looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So
Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say,
‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I m
ight lose my life on account
of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men
might well have slept with your wife, and you w
ould have brought guilt
upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who h
arms this man
or his wife s hall surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,
because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth contin
ued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds
a 25
Esau may mean hairy. b 26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for
he deceives. c 30 Edom means red. d 4 Or seed e 4 Or and all nations on earth will
use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)