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52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they had said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out some silver and gold items, along with some clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 He and the men with him ate and drank, and then they spent the night.
The Servant Prepares to Leave
When they got up the next morning, the servant[a] requested, “Send me off to my master.”
55 But her brother and mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days—at least ten—and after that she may go.”
56 “Please don’t delay me,” the servant[b] answered them. “The Lord has made my journey successful. Send me off so I can return to my master.”
57 But they said, “We’ll call the young lady and see what she has to say about this.”[c]
58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?”
“I will go,” she replied.
59 So they sent off their sister Rebekah, along with her personal assistant,[d] Abraham’s servant, and his men. 60 As they were leaving, they all blessed Rebekah by[e] saying,
“Our sister, may you become the mother of tens of millions![f]
May your descendants take over
the city gates[g] of those who hate them.”[h]
61 Then Rebekah and her young servant women got up, mounted their camels, and followed Abraham’s servant, who took Rebekah and went on his way.
Isaac Marries Rebekah
62 Later on, as Isaac was returning one evening from Beer-lahai-roi[i] (he had been living in the Negev[j]), 63 Isaac[k] went out walking[l] in a field. He looked up, and all of a sudden there were some camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she quickly dismounted from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man coming in the field to meet us?”
“That’s my master,” the servant told her. So she reached for a veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant informed Isaac about everything he had done. 67 Later, Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent that had belonged to his mother Sarah and married her. Isaac loved her, and that’s how he was comforted following the loss of[m] his mother.
Abraham Names Isaac to be His Heir
25 Abraham had taken another wife whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s descendants.
5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. 6 While he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to his concubines[n] and sent them to the east country in order to keep them away from his son Isaac.
7 Abraham lived for 175 years,[o] 8 then passed away, dying at a ripe old age, having lived a full life, and joined his ancestors.[p] 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field that used to belong to Zohar the Hittite’s son Ephron. 10 This was the same field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites, where Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who continued to live near Beer-lahai-roi.
A Summary of Ishmael’s Life
12 Now this is what happened to Ishmael, whom Sarah’s Egyptian servant Hagar bore for Abraham. 13 Here’s a list of the names of Ishmael’s sons, recorded by their names and descendants: Nebaioth was the firstborn, followed by[q] Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s children, listed by their names according to their villages and their camps. There were a total of twelve tribal chiefs, according to their clans. 17 Ishmael lived[r] for 137 years, then he took his last breath, died, and joined his ancestors.[s] 18 His descendants[t] settled from Havilah to Shur (that’s near Egypt), all the way to Assyria, in defiance[u] of all of his relatives.
The Births of Esau and Jacob
19 This is the account of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he married[v] Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean[w] from Paddan-aram[x] and sister of Laban the Aramean.[y] 21 Later, Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, since she was unable to conceive children, and the Lord responded to him—his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
22 But when the infants[z] kept on wrestling each other inside her womb,[aa] she asked herself, “Why is this happening?”[ab] So she asked the Lord for an explanation.[ac]
23 “Two nations[ad] are in your womb,” the Lord responded, “and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger.”
24 Sure enough, when her due date arrived, she delivered twin sons.[ae] 25 The first son came out reddish—his entire body was covered with hair—so they named him Esau.[af] 26 After that, his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob.[ag] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 As the boys were growing up, Esau became skilled at hunting and was a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was the quiet type who tended to stay indoors. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he loved to hunt, while Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau happened to come in from being outdoors, and he was feeling famished.
30 Esau told Jacob, “Let me gobble down some of this red stuff, since I’m starving.” (That’s how Esau got his nickname “Edom”.)[ah]
31 But Jacob responded, “Sell me your birthright. Do it now.”[ai]
32 “Look! I’m about to die,” Esau replied. “What good is this birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob insisted, “Swear it by an oath right now.” So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some of his food, along with some boiled stew. So Esau ate, drank, got up, and left, after having belittled his own birthright.
Isaac Lives in Philistia for a While
26 Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham’s lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
2 That’s when the Lord appeared to Isaac.[aj] “You are not to go down to Egypt,” he said. “Instead, you are to settle down in an area within this land where I’ll tell you. 3 Remain in this land, and I’ll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. 4 I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another. 5 I’m going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.
Isaac Lies about His Wife
7 Later on, the men of that place asked about his wife, so he replied, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to call her “my wife.” He kept thinking, “…otherwise, the men around here will kill me on account of Rebekah, since she’s very beautiful.”
8 After he had been there awhile, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing[ak] his wife Rebekah.
9 So Abimelech called Isaac and confronted him. “She is definitely your wife!” he accused him, “So why did you claim, ‘She’s my sister?’”
Isaac responded, “Because I had thought ‘…otherwise, I’ll die on account of her.’”
10 “What have you done to us?” Abimelech asked. “Any minute now, one of the people could have had sex with your wife and you would have caused all of us to be guilty.” 11 So he issued this order to everyone: “Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed.”
Isaac Grows Wealthy
12 Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received,[al] because the Lord blessed him. 13 He[am] became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth,[an] becoming more and more wealthy. 14 He owned so many sheep, cattle, and servants that the Philistines eventually became envious of him. 15 They[ao] filled in with sand all of the wells that Isaac’s[ap] father Abraham’s servants had dug during his lifetime. 16 Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, “Move away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.”
The Would-be Followers of Jesus(A)
18 When Jesus saw the large crowds around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.[a] 19 Just then, a scribe came up and told him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus told him,
21 Then another of his disciples told him, “Lord,[d] first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms the Sea(B)
23 When Jesus[e] got into the boat, his disciples went with him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat began to be swamped by the waves. Yet Jesus[f] kept sleeping. 25 They[g] went to him and woke him up. “Lord!” they cried, “Save us! We’re going to die!”
26 He asked them, “Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 The men were amazed. “What kind of man is this?” they asked. “Even the winds and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men(C)
28 When Jesus[h] arrived on the other side in the region of the Gerasenes,[i] two demon-possessed men met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could travel on that road. 29 Suddenly, they screamed, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before the proper time?”
30 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing some distance away from them. 31 So the demons began to plead with Jesus,[j] saying, “If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 He told them, “Go,” and they came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned in the water.
33 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they came into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
A Prayer for Judging the Wicked
10 [a]Why do you stand far away, Lord?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
2 The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted,[b]
who are trapped in the schemes he devises.
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own desire;
he blesses the greedy
and despises the Lord.
4 With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks,
“God will not seek justice.”[c]
He always presumes “There is no God.”
5 Their ways always seem prosperous.
Your judgments are on high,
far away from them.
They scoff at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
“We will not be moved throughout all time,
and we will not experience adversity.”
7 Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression,
their tongues[d] spread trouble and iniquity.
8 They wait[e] in ambush in the villages,
they kill the innocent in secret.
9 Their eyes secretly watch the helpless,
lying in wait like a lion in his den.
They lie in wait to catch the afflicted.
They catch the afflicted when they pull him into their net.
10 The victim[f] is crushed,
and he sinks down;
the helpless fall by their might.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
“God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face,
he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, Lord!
Raise your hand, God.
Don’t forget the afflicted!
13 Why do the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “God[g] will not seek justice.”?[h]
14 But you do see!
You take note of trouble and grief
in order to take the matter into your own hand.
The helpless one commits himself[i] to you;
you have been the orphan’s helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
so that when you seek out his wickedness
you will find it no more.
7 Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 This will bring healing to your body,
and refreshment to your bones.
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