Esau: The man who sold his birthright

ESAU: THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS

BIRTHRIGHTS

This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham.20 When Isaac

was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the

Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 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. 22 But the two children struggled with each other in her

womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?”

she asked. 23 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.”

24 And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did

indeed have twins! 25 The first one was very red at birth and covered with

thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau.[a] 26 Then the other twin

was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob.[b]

Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born. 27 As the boys grew up,

Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet

temperament, preferring to stay at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he

enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the

wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give

me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which

means “red.”) 31 “All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the

firstborn son.” 32 “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my

birthright to me now?” 33 But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your

birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the

firstborn to his brother, Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and

lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for

his rights as the firstborn.

(Genesis 25: 19- 34 NLT)

Pick out five significant words and statements in the above passage