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a special comfort to him after the loss of his mother.
    Genesis 25
    Now Abraham married again. Keturah was his new wife, and she bore him several children: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah. 3  Jokshan’s two sons were Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4  Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. *
         5  Abraham deeded everything he owned to Isaac; 6  however, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off into the east, away from Isaac.
         7-8  Then Abraham died, at the ripe old age of 175, 9-10  and his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Mach-pelah near Mamre, in the field Abraham had purchased from Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite, where Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was buried.
         11  After Abraham’s death, God poured out rich blessings upon Isaac. (Isaac had now moved south to Beer-lahai-roi in the Negeb.)
         12-15  Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave girl: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. 16  These twelve sons of his became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names. 17  Ishmael finally died at the age of 137, and joined his ancestors. * 18  These descendants of Ishmael were scattered across the country from Havilah to Shur (which is a little way to the northeast of the Egyptian border in the direction of Assyria). And they were constantly at war with one another.
         19  This is the story of Isaac’s children: 20  Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram. Rebekah was the sister of Laban. 21  Isaac pleaded with Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage * she had no children. Then at last she became pregnant. 22  And it seemed as though children were fighting each other inside her!
         “I can’t endure this,” she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.
         23  And he told her, “The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger!”
         24  And sure enough, she had twins. 25  The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him “Esau.” * 26  Then the other twin was born with his hand on Esau’s heel! So they called him Jacob (meaning “Grabber”). Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
         27  As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home. 28  Isaac’s favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
         29  One day Jacob was cooking stew when Esau arrived home exhausted from the hunt.
    30   Esau: “Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!” (From this came his nickname “Edom,” which means “Red Stuff.”)
    31   Jacob: “All right, trade me your birthright for it!”
    32   Esau: “When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?”
    33   Jacob: “Well then, vow to God that it is mine!”
         And Esau vowed, thereby selling all his eldest-son rights to his younger brother. 34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew; so he ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away. *
    Genesis 26
    Now a severe famine overshadowed the land, as had happened before, in Abraham’s time, and so Isaac moved to the city of Gerar where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
         2  Jehovah appeared to him there and told him, “Don’t go to Egypt. 3  Do as I say and stay here in this land. If you do, I will be with you and bless you, and I will give all this land to you and to your descendants,