The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday January 11, 2018 (NIV)

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³ Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night.

When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days.^[a] Then she^[b] can go.”

⁵⁶ But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ So they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her opinion.”^[c]

⁵⁸ They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

She replied, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her,^[d](A) and Abraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah, saying to her:

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi,^[f](D) for he was living in the Negev region. ⁶³ In the early evening Isaac went out to walk^[g] in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.

⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death.^(E)

Abraham’s Other Wife and Sons

25 Abraham had taken^[h] another wife, whose name was Keturah,^{(F) 2} and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac.^{(G) 6} But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, and while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.^(H)

Abraham’s Death

⁷ This is the length of Abraham’s life:^[i] 175 years. ⁸ He took his last breath and died at a good old age,^(I) old and contented,^[j] and he was gathered to his people.^{(J) 9} His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah^(K) near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hethite. ¹⁰ This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hethites.^(L) Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.^(M)

Ishmael’s Family Records

¹² These are the family records^(N) of Abraham’s son Ishmael,^(O) whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael’s sons; their names according to the family records are Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael’s sons, and these are their names by their settlements and encampments: twelve leaders^[k](P) of their clans.^{[l] 17} This is the length^[m] of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ And they^[n] settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur.^[o] He^[p] stayed near^[q] all his relatives.^(Q)

The Birth of Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.^{(R) 20} Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah^(S) daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram^(T) and sister of Laban the Aramean.^{(U) 21} Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.^(V) The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^{(W) 22} But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”^[r] So she went to inquire of the Lord.^{(X) 23} And the Lord said to her:

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first one came out red-looking,^[s] covered with hair^[t] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.^{(AA) 26} After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand.^(AB) So he was named Jacob.^[u](AC) Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

Esau Sells his Birthright

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman,^[v] but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.^{[w] 28} Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.^(AD)

²⁹ Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. ³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.^[x]

³¹ Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

³² “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.^(AE)

The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac

26 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time.^(AF) And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.^{(AG) 2} The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; ³ stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you.^(AH) For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring,^(AI) and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.^{(AJ) 4} I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed^[y] by your offspring,^{(AK) 5} because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.”^{(AL) 6} So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Isaac’s Deception

⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”^(AM) for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking,^(AN) “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”^{(AO) 8} When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see^[z] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹ Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”^{(AP) 11} So Abimelech warned all the people, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

Conflicts over Wells

¹² Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped^[aa] a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him,^{(AQ) 13} and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him. ¹⁵ Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham,^(AR) filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.”^[ab]

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ When Jesus saw a large crowd^[a](A) around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea. ¹⁹ A scribe approached him and said,^(B) “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man^(C) has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ “Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

²³ As he got into the boat,^(D) his disciples^(E) followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. ²⁵ So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶ He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea,^(F) and there was a great calm.

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey^(G) him!”

Demons Driven Out by Jesus

²⁸ When he had come to the other side,^(H) to the region of the Gadarenes,^[b] two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,^[c] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”^(I)

³⁰ A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ “If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² “Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. ³³ Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. ³⁴ At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.^(J)

Psalm 10

Need for God’s Justice