20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, who came from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac’s wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.
22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?” Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,“Two nations are in your body,and two groups of people will be taken from you.One group will be stronger than the other,and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins.
25 The first baby was born red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau.
26 When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel, so that baby was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.