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52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he (A)bowed himself to the ground [a]before the Lord. 53 The servant brought out (B)articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “(C)Send me away to my master.” 55 But her brother and her mother said, “(D)Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.” 56 He said to them, “Do not delay me, since (E)the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” 57 And they said, “We will call the girl and [b]consult her wishes.” 58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” 59 Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and (F)her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“May you, our sister,
(G)Become thousands of ten thousands,
And may (H)your [c]descendants possess
The gate of those who hate them.”
61 Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Isaac Marries Rebekah
62 Now Isaac had come from going to (I)Beer-lahai-roi; for he [d]was living in (J)the [e]Negev. 63 Isaac went out (K)to [f]meditate in the field toward evening; and (L)he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. 64 Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. 65 She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her [g]veil and covered herself. 66 The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and (M)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and (N)he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after (O)his mother’s death.
Abraham’s Death
25 Now Abraham took another wife, [h]whose name was Keturah. 2 (P)She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan [i]became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. 5 (Q)Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of [j]his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and (R)sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.
7 These are [k]all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, (S)one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died (T)in a [l]ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was (U)gathered to his people. 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in (V)the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 (W)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. 11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that (X)God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac [m]lived by (Y)Beer-lahai-roi.
Descendants of Ishmael
12 Now these are the records of the generations of (Z)Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of (AA)the sons of Ishmael, by their names, [n]in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; (AB)twelve princes according to their [o]tribes. 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, (AC)one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was (AD)gathered to his people. 18 They [p]settled from (AE)Havilah to (AF)Shur which is [q]east of Egypt [r]as one goes toward Assyria; (AG)he [s]settled in defiance of all his [t]relatives.
Isaac’s Sons
19 Now these are the records of (AH)the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham [u]became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took (AI)Rebekah, the (AJ)daughter of Bethuel the [v]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the (AK)sister of Laban the [w]Aramean, to be his wife. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and (AL)the Lord [x]answered him and Rebekah his wife (AM)conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to (AN)inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her,
“(AO)Two nations are in your womb;
(AP)And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And (AQ)the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came forth red, (AR)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with (AS)his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so (AT)his name was called [y]Jacob; and Isaac was (AU)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a [z]peaceful man, [aa](AV)living in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because [ab]he had (AW)a taste for game, (AX)but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 When Jacob had cooked (AY)stew, Esau came in from the field and he was [ac]famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of [ad]that red stuff there, for I am [ae]famished.” Therefore his name was called [af]Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “[ag]First sell me your (AZ)birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “[ah]First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and (BA)sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Isaac Settles in Gerar
26 Now there was (BB)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to (BC)Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The Lord (BD)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; [ai](BE)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land and (BF)I will be with you and (BG)bless you, for (BH)to you and to your [aj]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish (BI)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 (BJ)I will multiply your [ak]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your [al]descendants all these lands; and (BK)by your [am]descendants all the nations of the earth [an]shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham [ao](BL)obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
6 So Isaac [ap]lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “(BM)She is my sister,” for he was (BN)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “[aq]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is (BO)beautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” 10 (BP)Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who (BQ)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and [ar]reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And (BR)the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man (BS)became rich, and continued to grow [as]richer until he became very [at]wealthy; 14 for (BT)he had possessions of flocks [au]and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now (BU)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up [av]by filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are [aw](BV)too powerful for us.”
Discipleship Tested
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, (A)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 (B)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the [a]air have [b]nests, but (C)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “(D)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 (E)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose [c]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “(F)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He *said to them, “Why are you [d]afraid, (G)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and [e]it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Jesus Casts Out Demons
28 (H)When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were (I)demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “[f](J)What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [g]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [h]including what had happened to the (K)demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, (L)they implored Him to leave their region.
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)pride the wicked [b]hotly pursue the afflicted;
[c]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)heart’s desire,
And [d]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [e]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [f](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[g]Throughout all generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [h]stealthily watch for the [i](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [j]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [k]crouches, he [l]bows down,
And the [m]unfortunate fall [n]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [o]take it into Your hand.
The [p](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[q](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.