Esau (The Profane Person)

22But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, 23and He declared to her: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

29One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. 30He said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished." (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31"First sell me your birthright," Jacob replied. 32"Look," said Esau, "I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?" 33"Swear to me first," Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. 34Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

34When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

8And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, 9Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father's presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 31He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, "My father, sit up and eat of your son's game, so that you may bless me." 32But his father Isaac replied, "Who are you?" "I am Esau, your firstborn son," he answered. 33Isaac began to tremble violently and said, "Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!" 34When Esau heard his father's words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me too, O my father!" 35But Isaac replied, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing." 36So Esau declared, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." Then he asked, "Haven't you saved a blessing for me?" 37But Isaac answered Esau: "Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?" 38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. 39His father Isaac answered him: "Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above. 40You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck."

34When Esau heard his father's words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me too, O my father!" 35But Isaac replied, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing." 36So Esau declared, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." Then he asked, "Haven't you saved a blessing for me?" 37But Isaac answered Esau: "Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?" 38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!" Then Esau wept aloud.

14From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us, 15how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers, 16and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17Please let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.” 19“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.” 20But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand. 21So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

11This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly. 12So I will send fire upon Teman to consume the citadels of Bozrah."

7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

2"I have loved you," says the LORD. But you ask, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

10Not only that, but Rebecca's children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac. 11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's plan of election might stand, 12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13So it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

16See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.

17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.