The Birth of Isaac

1 The Lord ^kvisited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah ^las he had promised. 2 And Sarah ^mconceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age ⁿat the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, ^oIsaac.¹ 4 And Abraham ^pcircumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^qas God had commanded him. 5 ^rAbraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, ^s“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^tYet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

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?”¹ 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.³ 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.⁴) 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.