Genesis 26
26
Isaac and Rebekah visit Gerar
1When a famine gripped the land, a different one from the first famine that occurred in Abraham’s time, Isaac set out toward Gerar and toward King Abimelech of the Philistines. 2The LORD appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt but settle temporarily in the land that I will show you. 3Stay in this land as an immigrant, and I will be with you and bless you because I will give all of these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep my word, which I gave to your father Abraham. 4I will give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of these lands. All of the nations of the earth will be blessed because of your descendants. 5I will do this because Abraham obeyed me and kept my orders, my commandments, my statutes, and my instructions.”
6So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7When the men who lived there asked about his wife, he said, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, The men who live there will kill me for Rebekah because she’s very beautiful. 8After Isaac had lived there for some time, the Philistines’ King Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac laughing together with his wife Rebekah.
9So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She’s your wife, isn’t she? How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac responded, “Because I thought that I might be killed because of her.”
10Abimelech said, “What are you trying to do to us? Before long, one of the people would have slept with your wife; and you would have made us guilty.” 11Abimelech gave orders to all of the people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”
Isaac’s treaty with the Philistines
12Isaac planted grain in that land and reaped one hundred shearim#26.12 An unknown measure of grain that year because the LORD had blessed him. 13Isaac grew richer and richer until he was extremely wealthy. 14He had livestock, both flocks and cattle, and many servants. As a result, the Philistines envied him. 15The Philistines closed up and filled with dirt all of the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. 16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us because you have become too powerful among us.”
17So Isaac moved away from there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18Isaac dug out again the wells that were dug during the lifetime of his father Abraham. The Philistines had closed them up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. 19Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley and found a well there with fresh water. 20Isaac’s shepherds argued with Gerar’s shepherds, each claiming, “This is our water.” So Isaac named the well Esek#26.20 Or quarrel because they quarreled with him. 21They dug another well and argued about it too, so he named it Sitnah.#26.21 Or accusation 22He left there and dug another well, but they didn’t argue about it, so he named it Rehoboth#26.22 Or open spaces and said, “Now the LORD has made an open space for us and has made us fertile in the land.”
23Then he went up from Gerar to Beer-sheba. 24The LORD appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I will bless you, and I will give you many children for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25So Isaac built an altar there and worshipped in the LORD’s name. Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.
26But Abimelech set out toward him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his ally and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac said to him, “Why have you come after me? You resented me and sent me away from you.”
28They said, “We now see that the LORD was with you. We propose that there be a formal agreement between us and that we draw up a treaty#26.28 Or covenant with you: 29you must not treat us badly since we haven’t harmed you and since we have treated you well at all times. Then we will send you away peacefully, for you are now blessed by the LORD.” 30Isaac prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31They got up early in the morning, and they gave each other their word. Isaac sent them off, and they left peacefully.
32That day Isaac’s servants informed him about the well that they had been digging and said to him, “We found water.” 33He called it Shibah;#26.33 Or giving one’s word or seven therefore, the city’s name has been Beer-sheba#26.33 Or Well of giving one’s word or Well of seven until today.
Esau’s wives
34When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35They made life very difficult for Isaac and Rebekah.
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Genesis 26
26
Genesis 26
1¶ And there was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.
2And the Lord appeared unto him and said, Do not go down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of;
3abide in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will confirm the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father;
4and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these lands, and in thy seed shall all the Gentiles of the earth be blessed
5because Abraham hearkened unto my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6¶ Therefore Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7And the men of that 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 Rebekah because she was fair to look upon.
8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking out a window, saw Isaac sporting with Rebekah, his wife.
9And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how didst thou say, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.
10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? One of the people might easily have slept with thy wife, and thou should have brought the sin upon us.
11Then Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12¶ Then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year one hundred-fold, and the Lord blessed him.
13And the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great,
14for he had possession of flocks, possession of herds, great store of servants, and the Philistines envied him.
15For all the wells which his father’s slaves had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth.
16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
17And Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.
18And Isaac reopened the wells of water, which they had opened in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham, and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19And Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found there a well of living waters.
20And the pastors of Gerar strove with Isaac’s pastors, saying, The water is ours; therefore he called the name of the well Esek, because they strove with him.
21And they opened another well and strove for that one also; and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22And he left there and opened another well; and for that one they did not strive and he called the name of it Rehoboth, and he said, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23And he went up from there unto Beersheba.
24And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee and will bless thee and multiply thy seed for my slave Abraham’s sake.
25And he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s slaves opened a well.
26¶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army.
27And Isaac said unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have sent me away from you?
28And they said, We have seen certainly that the Lord is with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee,
29that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee and as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the Lord.
30And he made them a banquet, and they ate and drank.
31And they rose up early in the morning and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32And it came to pass the same day that Isaac’s slaves came and told him concerning the well which they had opened and said unto him, We have found water.
33And he called it Shebah, therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
34¶ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon, the Hittite:
35Who were bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International