Abraham’s Death and His Descendants

1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 ^lShe bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5 ^mAbraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he ⁿsent them away from his son Isaac, eastward ^oto the east country.

7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham ^pbreathed his last and ^qdied in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael ^rhis sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field ^sthat Abraham purchased from the Hittites. ^tThere Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at ^uBeer-lahai-roi.

12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^vwhom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 ^wThese are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: ^xNebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and ^xKedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, ^yTema, ^zJetur, ^zNaphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, ^atwelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He ^bbreathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 ^cThey settled from Havilah to ^dShur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled¹ over against all his kinsmen.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: ^eAbraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, ^fthe daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of ^gPaddan-aram, ^hthe sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And ⁱthe Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”² So she went ^jto inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, ⁿall his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with ^ohis hand holding Esau’s heel, so ^phis name was called Jacob.⁴ Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was ^qa skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, ^rdwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because ^she ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.⁵) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and ^tsold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

God’s Promise to Isaac

1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides ^uthe former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to ^vAbimelech king of the ^wPhilistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell ^xin the land of which I shall tell you. 3 ^ySojourn in this land, and ^zI will be with you and will bless you, for ^ato you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^bthe oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 ^cI will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And ^din your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because ^eAbraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, ^fhe said, “She is my sister,” for ^ghe feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because ^hshe was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with⁶ Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and ⁱyou would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord ^jblessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines ^kenvied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells ^lthat his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And ^mhe gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar ⁿquarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,⁷ because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.⁸ 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,⁹ saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, ^o“I am the God of Abraham your father. ^pFear not, for ^qI am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he ^rbuilt an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and ^sPhicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and ^thave sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. ^uYou are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and ^vexchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah;¹⁰ therefore the name of the city is ^wBeersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took ^xJudith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and ^ythey made life bitter¹¹ for Isaac and Rebekah.

Who Is the Greatest?

1 ^tAt that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^uturn and ^vbecome like children, you ^wwill never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 ^xWhoever humbles himself like this child is the ^wgreatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 ^y“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but ^zwhoever causes one of these ^alittle ones who believe in me to sin,¹ it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

7 “Woe to the world for ^btemptations to sin!^{2 c}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^dbut woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 ^eAnd if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^fthe eternal fire. 9 ^eAnd if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^fhell³ of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10 “See that you do not despise ^gone of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^htheir angels always ⁱsee the face of my Father who is in heaven.⁴ 12 ^jWhat do you think? ^kIf a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So ^lit is not the will of my⁵ Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 ^m“If your brother sins against you, ⁿgo and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^ogained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^pby the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, ^qtell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^rlet him be to you as ^sa Gentile and ^sa tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, ^twhatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed⁶ in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you ^uagree on earth about anything they ask, ^vit will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are ^wgathered in my name, ^xthere am I among them.”