Thematic Bible: Birthright of the


Thematic Bible



They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.


And you shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

And again, when he brings the firstbegotten into the world, he says, And let all the angels of God worship him.


Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.




And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray you, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day your birthright. read more.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point of death: and what profit shall this birthright be to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me?


It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.


And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be perpetuated in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. read more.
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, since he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be recorded according to the birthright.


Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, since he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be recorded according to the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and from him came the prince; but the birthright was Joseph's:)

Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it: he went up to my couch.


If a man has two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he makes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.


Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief;)


And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.


And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom has turned about, and has become my brother's: for it was his from the LORD.


If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And you shall be its desire, and you must rule over it.