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Abraham married another woman, whose name was Keturah.
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She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
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Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
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The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were Keturah's descendants.
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Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac;
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but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.
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Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175.
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His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah Cave, in the field east of Mamre that had belonged to Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
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It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; both Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.
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After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."
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Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham,
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had the following sons, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
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Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
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They were the ancestors of twelve tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping places.
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Ishmael was 137 years old when he died.
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The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.
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This is the story of Abraham's son Isaac.
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Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.
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Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.
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She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, "Why should something like this happen to me?" So she went to ask the LORD for an answer.
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The LORD said to her, "Two nations are within you; You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other; The older will serve the younger."
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The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons.
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The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau.
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The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
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The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.
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Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.
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One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry
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and said to Jacob, "I'm starving; give me some of that red stuff." (That is why he was named Edom. )
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Jacob answered, "I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son."
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Esau said, "All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?"
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Jacob answered, "First make a vow that you will give me your rights." Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob.
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Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.
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There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
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The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.
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Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.
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I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.
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I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."
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So Isaac lived at Gerar.
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When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.
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When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love.
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Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife."
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"What have you done to us?" Abimelech said. "One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt."
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Abimelech warned all the people: "Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death."
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Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the LORD blessed him.
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He continued to prosper and became a very rich man.
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Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.
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So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.
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Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are."
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So Isaac left and set up his camp in Gerar Valley, where he stayed for some time.
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He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
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Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley and found water.
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The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and said, "This water belongs to us." So Isaac named the well "Quarrel."
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Isaac's servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it "Enmity."
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He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it "Freedom." He said, "Now the LORD has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here."
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Isaac left and went to Beersheba.
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That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."
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Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.
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Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac.
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So Isaac asked, "Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?"
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They answered, "Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise
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that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you go peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you."
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Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
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Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.
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On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, "We have found water."
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He named the well "Vow." That is how the city of Beersheba got its name.
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When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittites, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon.
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They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.
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After this the Lord chose another seventy-two men and sent them out two by two, to go ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was about to go.
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He said to them, "There is a large harvest, but few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.
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Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
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Don't take a purse or a beggar's bag or shoes; don't stop to greet anyone on the road.
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Whenever you go into a house, first say, 'Peace be with this house.'
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If someone who is peace-loving lives there, let your greeting of peace remain on that person; if not, take back your greeting of peace.
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Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you, for workers should be given their pay. Don't move around from one house to another.
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Whenever you go into a town and are made welcome, eat what is set before you,
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heal the sick in that town, and say to the people there, 'The Kingdom of God has come near you.'
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But whenever you go into a town and are not welcomed, go out in the streets and say,
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'Even the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the Kingdom of God has come near you!'
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I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to that town!
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"How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!
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God will show more mercy on the Judgment Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you.
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And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!"
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Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
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The seventy-two men came back in great joy. "Lord," they said, "even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!"
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Jesus answered them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
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Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
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But don't be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven."
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At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.
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"My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
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Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, "How fortunate you are to see the things you see!
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I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not."
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A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to receive eternal life?"
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Jesus answered him, "What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?"
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The man answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' "
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"You are right," Jesus replied; "do this and you will live."
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But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"
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Jesus answered, "There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.
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It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.
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In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.
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But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.
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He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
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The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Take care of him,' he told the innkeeper, 'and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.' "
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And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?"
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The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him." Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."
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As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home.
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She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching.
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Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself ? Tell her to come and help me!"
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The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things,
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but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her."
