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52 When Abraham’s servant heard these words, he bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant gave Rebekah gold and silver jewelry and clothes. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother. 54 The servant and the men with him ate and drank. And they spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, the servant said, “Now let me go back to my master.”
55 Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “Let Rebekah stay with us at least ten days. After that she may go.”
56 But the servant said to them, “Do not make me wait. The Lord has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master.”
57 Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.” 58 They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?”
She said, “Yes, I do.”
59 So they allowed Rebekah and her nurse to go with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah and said,
“Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people.
And may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her servant girls got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi. He was living in southern Canaan. 63 One evening he went out to the field to think. As he looked up, he saw camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel. 65 She asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant answered, “That is my master.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother. And she became his wife. Isaac loved her very much. So he was comforted after his mother’s death.
Abraham’s Family
25 Abraham married again. His new wife was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush and Leum. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But before Abraham died, he did give gifts to the sons of his other wives. Abraham sent them to the East to be away from Isaac.
7 Abraham lived to be 175 years old. 8 He breathed his last breath and died at an old age. He had lived a long and satisfying life. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. This cave is in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This is the same field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac was now living at Beer Lahai Roi.
12 This is the family history of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant, was Ishmael’s mother.) 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order they were born. The first son was Nebaioth. Then came Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s sons. And these are the names of the tribal leaders. They are listed according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived 137 years. Then he breathed his last breath and died. 18 Ishmael’s descendants lived from Havilah to Shur. This is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria. Ishmael’s descendants often attacked the descendants of his brothers.
Isaac’s Family
19 This is the family history of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac. 20 When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac’s wife could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.
22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?” Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your body.
Two groups of people will be taken from you.
One group will be stronger than the other.
The older will serve the younger.”
24 And when the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. 25 The first baby was born red. His skin was like a hairy robe. So he was named Esau.[a] 26 When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel. So that baby was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed among the tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau. Esau hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields. He was weak from hunger. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup. I am weak with hunger.” (That is why people call him Edom.[c])
31 But Jacob said, “You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son.”[d]
32 Esau said, “I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father’s wealth will not help me.”
33 But Jacob said, “First, promise me that you will give it to me.” So Esau made a promise to Jacob. In this way he sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup. Esau ate and drank and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.
Isaac Lies to Abimelech
26 Once there was a time of hunger in the land. This was besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar. He went to see Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your descendants all these lands. I will keep the agreement I made to Abraham your father. 4 I will give you many descendants. They will be as hard to count as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed. 5 I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed me. He did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my teachings and my rules.”
6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 Isaac’s wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about her. Isaac said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to tell them she was his wife. He thought they might kill him so they could have her.
8 Isaac lived there a long time. One day as Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out his window, he saw Isaac. Isaac was holding his wife Rebekah tenderly. 9 Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you say she was your sister?”
Isaac said to him, “I was afraid you would kill me so you could have her.”
10 Abimelech said, “What have you done to us? One of our men might have had physical relations with your wife. Then we would have been guilty of a great sin.”
11 So Abimelech warned everyone. He said, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”
Isaac Becomes Rich
12 Isaac planted seed in that land. And that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. 13 Isaac became rich. He gathered more wealth until he became a very rich man. 14 He had many slaves and many flocks and herds. The Philistines envied him. 15 So they stopped up all the wells the servants of Isaac’s father Abraham had dug. (They had dug them when Abraham was alive.) The Philistines filled those wells with dirt. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are.”
People Want to Follow Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he told his followers to go to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you any place you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests to live in. But the Son of Man has no place where he can rest his head.”
21 Another man, one of Jesus’ followers, said to Jesus, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the people who are dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Stops a Storm
23 Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. 24 A very bad storm arose on the lake. The waves covered the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The followers went to Jesus and woke him. They said, “Lord, save us! We will drown!”
26 Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then Jesus got up and gave a command to the wind and the sea. The wind stopped, and the sea became very calm.
27 The men were amazed. They said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons
28 Jesus arrived at the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarene[a] people. There, two men came to Jesus. They had demons in them. These men lived in the burial caves. They were so dangerous that people could not use the road by those caves. 29 The two men came to Jesus and shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to punish us before the right time?”
30 Near that place there was a large herd of pigs feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you make us leave these men, please send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 Jesus said to them, “Go!” So the demons left the men and went into the pigs. Then the whole herd of pigs ran down the hill into the lake and were drowned. 33 The men who were caring for the pigs ran away and went into town. They told about all of this and what had happened to the men who had demons. 34 Then the whole town went out to see Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their area.
A Complaint About Evil People
10 Lord, why are you so far away?
Why do you hide when there is trouble?
2 Proudly the wicked chase down those who suffer.
The wicked set traps to catch them.
3 They brag about the things they want.
They bless the greedy but hate the Lord.
4 The wicked people are too proud.
They do not look for God.
There is no room for God in their thoughts.
5 They always succeed.
They are far from keeping your laws.
They make fun of their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, “Nothing bad will ever happen to me.
I will never be ruined.”
7 Their mouths are full of curses, lies and threats.
They use their tongues for sin and evil.
8 They hide near the villages.
They look for innocent people to kill.
They watch in secret for the helpless.
9 They wait in hiding like a lion.
They wait to catch poor people.
They catch the poor in nets.
10 The poor are thrown down and crushed.
They are defeated because the others are stronger.
11 The wicked think,
“God has forgotten us.
He doesn’t see what is happening.”
12 Lord, rise up and punish the wicked.
Don’t forget those who need help.
13 Why do wicked people hate God?
They say to themselves, “God won’t punish us.”
14 Lord, surely you see these cruel and evil things.
Look at them and do something.
People in trouble look to you for help.
You are the one who helps the orphans.
15 Break the power of wicked men.
Punish them for the evil they have done.
7 Don’t depend on your own wisdom.
Respect the Lord and refuse to do wrong.
8 Then your body will be healthy.
And your bones will be strong.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.