Category: Scripture

This is the account of the family of Issac, the son of Abraham. When Isaac was 40 years old; he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Armean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban and Aramean.

Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

And then the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! The first one was veery red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esaus. The other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born. (vv. 19-26, NLT)

Abraham married another wife, whose name wa Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Suan. Jokshan was the father of Sheva and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Ashuerites, Letushites, and Leummites. Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all the descendants of Abraham through Keturah.

Abraham gave everything he owned to his son, Isaac. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.

Abraham lived to 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephon son of Zohar the Hittite. This was the field that Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he buried his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in Negev. (vv 1-11, NLT)

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing to say. Here is Rebekah; take her and go. Yes. Let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord directed.” (vv. 50-51, NLT)

So they said good-bye to Rebekah and sent her away with Abraham’s servant and his men. The woman who had been Rebekah’s childhood nurse went along with her. They6 gve her this blessing as she parted:

“Our sister, nay you become the mother of many millions! May you descendants be strong and conquer the cities of their enemies.” (vv. 59-60, NLT)

“Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?” she asked the servant.

And he replied, “It is my master.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil. Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother, Sarah’s tent, and she became his wife. he loved her deeply and she was special comfort to him after the death of his mother. (vv 65-67, NLT)

The young woman ran home to tell her family everything that had happened. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban ,who rant out. to meet the man at the spring. (vv. 28-29, NLT)

So the man went home with Laban, and Laban unloaded the camels, gave him straw for their bedding, fed them, and provided water for the man and the camel drivers to wash their feet. Then food was served. But Abraham’s servant said, “I don’t want to eat until I have told you why. have come.”

“All right,” Laban said, “tell us.”

“I am Abraham’s servant,” he explained.

“And the Lord has greatly blessed my master; he has become a wealthy man. The Lord has given him flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, a fortune in slver and gold, and many. male and female camels and donkeys.”

“When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to a son, and my master has given him everything he owns. And my master made me take an oath. He said, “Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son.” (vv. 32-38, NLT)

“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed [Abraham’s servant]. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. I am standing here besides this spring, and the young women of the town are coming to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’-let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that You have shown unfailing love to my master.”

Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebecca coming out with her jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. Rebecca was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”

“Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering through and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels. (vv. 12-20, NLT)

When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham wept for her.

Then leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders. “Here I am , a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”

The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us. Chooses the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one will refuse to help you in this way.” (vv 1-6, NLT)

So Abraham bought the pof of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the land itself, and the cave that was in it, and al the surrounding trees. It was transferred to Abraham’s as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate. Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there isn Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron. So the field and the cave were transferred fro the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place. (vv. 17-20, NLT)

When they arrived at the place where God had told them to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son , Issac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called on him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am !”

“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yire) (which means ” the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of Lord it will be provided.” (vv. 9-14, NLT)

Some tine later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

“Take your son, your only son-yes, Isaac, whom you love so much-and go to the land of Moriah. Go and an sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

The next morning, Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey, ” Abraham told his servants.”The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and we will come back down.

So Abraham place the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on. together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fir and the wood, the boy said, ‘but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked together. (vv. 1-8, NLT)

The Lord kept His word and did for Sarah exactly what He had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Araham named their son Isaac. Eight days after Issac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who heard about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a whle between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

But that night God cam to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” But Abmelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother. I acted in complee innocence! My hands are clean!”

In the dream, God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her. Now return the woman back to her husband, and he will pray for you, for is is a prophet. THen you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and your people will die.” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

[After Abimelech called ro Abraham and asked hin way he did such a thing.] Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’ And she is really my siser, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her. When God called me to leave my father’s home to travel from place to place, I told her, “Do me a favor. Wherever we go, tell the people that i am your brother.” (vv. 11-13, NLT)

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female servants so they could have children. For the Lord had caused all the women to e infertile because of what hapened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.” (vv. 17-18, NLT)