Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, January 8 [Press play below]

25.1 Now Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
25.2 In time she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
25.3 Jokshan became father to Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
25.4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were the sons of Keturah.
25.5 Later on Abraham gave everything he had to Isaac,
25.6 but Abraham gave gifts to his sons by his concubines. Then while he was still alive, he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the land of the East.
25.7 The years of Abraham’s life were 175 years.
25.8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, old and satisfied, and was gathered to his people.
25.9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite that is in front of Mamre,
25.10 the field that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, with his wife Sarah.
25.11 After Abraham’s death, God continued to bless his son Isaac, and Isaac was dwelling near Beer-lahai-roi.
25.12 This is the history of Ishmael the son of Abraham whom Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah, bore to Abraham.
25.13 Now these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their family origins: Ishmael’s firstborn Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
25.14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
25.15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
25.16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and by their encampments, 12 chieftains according to their clans.
25.17 And Ishmael lived for 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people.
25.18 And they took up dwelling from Havilah near Shur, which is close to Egypt, as far as Assyria. He settled near all his brothers.
25.19 And this is the history of Isaac the son of Abraham. Abraham became father to Isaac.
25.20 Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramaean.
25.21 And Isaac kept pleading with Jehovah regarding his wife, because she was barren; so Jehovah responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
25.22 And the sons within her began to struggle with each other, so that she said: “If this is the way it is, why should I go on living?” So she inquired of Jehovah.
25.23 And Jehovah said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you; and the one nation will be stronger than the other nation, and the older will serve the younger.”
25.24 When the time came for her to give birth, look! twins were in her womb.
25.25 Then the first came out red all over and was like a garment of hair, so they named him Esau.
25.26 After that his brother came out and his hand was holding onto the heel of Esau, so he named him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when she gave birth to them.
25.27 As the boys got bigger, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a blameless man, dwelling in tents.
25.28 And Isaac loved Esau because it meant game in his mouth, whereas Rebekah loved Jacob.
25.29 On one occasion Jacob was boiling some stew when Esau returned from the field exhausted.
25.30 So Esau said to Jacob: “Quick, please, give me some of the red stew that you have there, for I am exhausted!” That is why his name was Edom.
25.31 To this Jacob said: “First sell me your right as firstborn!”
25.32 And Esau continued: “Here I am about to die! What use is a birthright to me?”
25.33 And Jacob added: “Swear to me first!” So he swore to him and sold his right as firstborn to Jacob.
25.34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and he got up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.
26.1 Now there was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that occurred in the days of Abraham, so that Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
26.2 Then Jehovah appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land that I designate to you.
26.3 Reside as a foreigner in this land, and I will continue with you and bless you because to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will carry out the oath that I swore to your father Abraham:
26.4 ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens; and I will give to your offspring all these lands; and by means of your offspring, all nations of the earth will obtain a blessing for themselves,’
26.5 on account of the fact that Abraham listened to my voice and continued to keep my requirements, my commands, my statutes, and my laws.”
26.6 So Isaac continued to dwell in Gerar.
26.7 When the men of the place kept asking about his wife, he would say: “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he said, “The men of the place might kill me because of Rebekah,” for she was beautiful in appearance.
26.8 After some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines was looking out of the window, and he saw Isaac displaying affection for Rebekah his wife.
26.9 At once Abimelech called Isaac and said: “She is actually your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” At this Isaac said to him: “I said it for fear I should die because of her.”
26.10 But Abimelech continued: “What have you done to us? One of the people could easily have lain down with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us!”
26.11 Then Abimelech commanded all the people, saying: “Anybody touching this man and his wife will surely be put to death!”
26.12 And Isaac began to sow seed in that land, and in that year he reaped 100 times what he sowed, for Jehovah was blessing him.
26.13 The man became wealthy, and he continued to prosper until he became very wealthy.
26.14 He acquired flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and a large body of servants, and the Philistines began to envy him.
26.15 So the Philistines took soil and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham.
26.16 Abimelech then said to Isaac: “Move from our neighborhood, for you have grown far stronger than we are.”
26.17 So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar and began dwelling there.
26.18 And Isaac again dug the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham but that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death, and he called them by the names that his father had given them.
26.19 When the servants of Isaac were digging in the valley, they found a well of fresh water.
26.20 And the shepherds of Gerar began quarreling with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they had quarreled with him.
26.21 And they started digging another well, and they began quarreling over it also. So he named it Sitnah.
26.22 Later he moved away from there and dug another well, but they did not quarrel over it. So he named it Rehoboth and said: “It is because now Jehovah has given us ample room and has made us fruitful in the land.”
26.23 Then he went up from there to Beer-sheba.
26.24 That night Jehovah appeared to him and said: “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your offspring on account of Abraham my servant.”
26.25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of Jehovah. And Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well there.
26.26 Later Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the chief of his army.
26.27 At this Isaac said to them: “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hated me and sent me away from your neighborhood?”
26.28 To this they said: “We have clearly seen that Jehovah has been with you. So we said, ‘Let there, please, be an oath of obligation between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you
26.29 that you will do nothing bad to us just as we have not harmed you, seeing that we have done only good to you in that we sent you away in peace. You now are the blessed of Jehovah.’”
26.30 Then he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
26.31 In the morning they got up early and swore an oath to each other. After that Isaac sent them away, and they went from him in peace.
26.32 On that day the servants of Isaac came and reported to him about the well that they had dug, and they told him: “We have found water!”
26.33 So he named it Shibah. That is why the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.
26.34 When Esau was 40 years old, he took as wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
26.35 They were a source of great grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
27.1 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too weak to see, he called Esau his older son to him and said: “My son!” He replied: “Here I am!”
27.2 And he went on to say: “I have now grown old. I do not know the day of my death.
27.3 So at this time take, please, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt some wild game for me.
27.4 Then make the kind of tasty dish that I am fond of and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die.”
27.5 However, Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went out into the field to hunt game and to bring it in.
27.6 And Rebekah said to Jacob her son: “I just heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying,
27.7 ‘Bring me some game and make me a tasty dish. Then let me eat so that I may bless you before Jehovah before my death.’
27.8 And now, my son, listen carefully and do what I am instructing you.
27.9 Go, please, to the herd and get me two of the best young goats from there so that I may prepare from them a tasty dish for your father, just the way he likes it.
27.10 Then take it to your father to eat, in order that he may bless you before his death.”
27.11 Jacob said to his mother Rebekah: “But Esau my brother is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.
27.12 What if my father feels me? Then I will certainly appear to be mocking him, and I will bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
27.13 At this his mother said to him: “Upon me be the curse meant for you, my son. Just do as I say and go, get them for me.”
27.14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, just the way his father liked it.
27.15 After that Rebekah took her older son Esau’s finest garments, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
27.16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the hairless part of his neck.
27.17 Then she handed the tasty dish and the bread that she had made to her son Jacob.
27.18 So he went in to his father and said: “My father!” to which he said: “Here I am! Who are you, my son?”
27.19 Jacob said to his father: “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done just as you told me. Sit up, please, and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
27.20 At that Isaac said to his son: “How were you so quick in finding it, my son?” He replied: “Because Jehovah your God brought it to me.”
27.21 Then Isaac said to Jacob: “Come near, please, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
27.22 So Jacob came near to his father Isaac, and he felt him, after which he said: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
27.23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau. So he blessed him.
27.24 After that he asked: “Are you really my son Esau?” to which he replied: “I am.” 27.25 Then he said: “Bring me some of the wild game for me to eat, my son, then I will bless you.” With that he brought it to him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank.
27.26 Then Isaac his father said to him: “Come near, please, and kiss me, my son.”
27.27 So he came near and kissed him, and he could smell the scent of his garments. Then he blessed him and said: “See, the scent of my son is like the scent of the field that Jehovah has blessed.
27.28 May the true God give you the dews of the heavens and the fertile soils of the earth and an abundance of grain and new wine.
27.29 Let peoples serve you, and let nations bow low to you. Be master over your brothers, and let the sons of your mother bow low to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
27.30 Now Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had barely left the presence of his father Isaac when his brother Esau came back from his hunting.
27.31 He too prepared a tasty dish and brought it to his father, and he said to his father: “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, in order that you may bless me.”
27.32 At this his father Isaac said to him: “Who are you?” to which he said: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
27.33 And Isaac began to tremble violently, so he said: “Who was it, then, who hunted for game and brought it to me? I already ate it before you arrived, and I blessed him—and he will surely be blessed!”
27.34 On hearing his father’s words, Esau began to cry out in an extremely loud and bitter manner and to say to his father: “Bless me, yes, me too, my father!”
27.35 But he said: “Your brother came deceitfully so that he might get the blessing meant for you.”
27.36 At this he said: “Is he not rightly named Jacob, that he might supplant me these two times? My birthright he has already taken, and now he has taken my blessing!” Then he added: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
27.37 But Isaac answered Esau: “Here I have appointed him master over you, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and I have bestowed grain and new wine for his support. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
27.38 Esau said to his father: “Is there just one blessing that you have, my father? Bless me, yes, me too, my father!” With that Esau cried loudly and burst into tears.
27.39 So his father Isaac answered him: “See, away from the fertile soils of the earth your dwelling will be, and away from the dew of the heavens above.
27.40 And by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will indeed break his yoke off your neck.”
27.41 However, Esau harbored animosity against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him, and Esau kept saying in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are getting closer. After that I am going to kill Jacob my brother.”
27.42 When the words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah, she at once sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him: “Look! Your brother Esau is planning to take revenge by killing you.
27.43 Now, my son, do as I say. Get up and run away to my brother Laban at Haran.
27.44 Dwell with him for a while until your brother’s rage calms down,
27.45 until your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
27.46 After that Rebekah kept saying to Isaac: “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob ever takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good is my life?”