Genesis 26

1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will]. And Yitz’chak [Laughter] went unto Avi-melekh (my father is king) king of the P’lishtim (wanderers) unto G’rar (a lodging place).

2And the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Mitzrayim [Egypt] (Double Distress or Double Stronghold, Black Land); dwell in the land which I shall tell youi of:

3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with youi, and will bless youi; for unto youi, and unto youri seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] youri father;

4And I will make youri seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto youri seed all these countries; and in youri seed shall all the nations of the earth be Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous);

5Because that Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6And Yitz’chak [Laughter] dwelt in G’rar (a lodging place):

7And the men of the place asked [him] of his wife; and he said, She [is] my sister: for he feared to say, [She is] my wife; lest, [said he], the men of the place should kill me for Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured); because she [was] fair to look upon.

8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Avi-melekh (my father is king) king of the P’lishtim (wanderers) looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Yitz’chak [Laughter] [was] sporting with Rivkah his wife.

9And Avi-melekh called Yitz’chak [Laughter], and said, Behold, of a surety she [is] youri wife: and [why did] youi say, She [is] my sister? And Yitz’chak [Laughter] said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10And Avi-melekh said, What [is] this youi hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have laid with youri wife, and youi should have brought guiltiness upon us.

11And Avi-melekh charged all [his] people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12Then Yitz’chak [Laughter] sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) him.

13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the P’lishtim (wanderers) envied him.

15For all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] his father, the P’lishtim (wanderers) had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16And Avi-melekh said unto Yitz’chak [Laughter], Go from us; for youi are much mightier than we.

17And Yitz’chak [Laughter] departed there, and pitched his tent in the valley of G’rar (a lodging place), and dwelt there.

18And Yitz’chak [Laughter] dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] his father; for the P’lishtim had stopped them after the death of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will]: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19And Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20And the herdsmen of G’rar did strive with Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] herdsmen, saying, The water [is] ours: and he called the name of the well ‘Esek (contention); because they strove with him.

21And they dug another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah (strife, hatred (being an enemy)).

22And he removed from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rekhovot (wide open spaces); and he said, For now the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23And he went up from there to Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath).

24And the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) appeared unto him the same night, and said, I [am] the God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] youri father: fear not, for I [am] with youi, and will bless youi, and multiply youri seed for my servant Avraham’s [exalted father/Fly They Will] sake.

25And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate), and pitched his tent there: and there Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants dug a well.

26Then Avi-melekh (my father is king) went to him from G’rar (a lodging place), and Achuzat (possession) one of his friends, and Pikhol (mouth of all) the chief captain of his army.

27And Yitz’chak [Laughter] said unto them, For what reason come you1sf to me, seeing you1sf hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) was with youi: and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, [even] between us and youi, and let us make a covenant with youi;

29That youi will do us no hurt, as we have not touched youi, and as we have done unto youi nothing but good, and have sent youi away in peace: youi [are] now the Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate).

30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31And they rose up early in the morning, and swore one to another: and Yitz’chak [Laughter] sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32And it came to pass the same day that Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said unto him, We have found water.

33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city [is] unto this day.

34And ‘Esav (hairy) was forty years old when he took to wife Y’hudit (Let the Powerful One be Praised [Yah]) the daughter of Be’eri (my well) the Hitti (terrorists), and Basmat (spice) the daughter of Eilon (terebinth- Pistacia terebinthus- source of tanning material and turpentine; mighty) the Hitti (terrorists):

35Which were a grief of mind unto Yitz’chak [Laughter] and to Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured).

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Genesis 26

Isaac Deceives Abimelech

1A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. 3Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants,#26:3 Hebrew seed; also in 26:4, 24. just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. 4I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 5I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.” 6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.” 8But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.

9Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.

10“How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”

11Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”

Conflict over Water Rights

12When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. 13He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. 14He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.

16Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”

17So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down. 18He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.

19Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water. 20But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”). 21Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”). 22Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”

23From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, 24where the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.” 25Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.

Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech

26One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander. 27“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”

28They replied, “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant. 29Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”

30So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together. 31Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.

32That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed. 33So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). And to this day the town that grew up there is called Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”).

34At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. 35But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.

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