Genesis 26

Isaac and Abimelech

1Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, 2because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said:

Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. 3#Gn 22.16-18. You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.

4I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,#26.4 They … on earth: Or “All nations on earth will ask me to bless them.” 5because Abraham did everything I told him to do.

6Isaac moved to Gerar 7#Gn 12.13; 20.2. with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. 8After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. 9Abimelech called him in and said, “Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?”

“Because I thought someone would kill me,” Isaac answered.

10“Don't you know what you've done?” Abimelech exclaimed. “If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!” 11Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.

12Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him, 13and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. 14In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, 15and they stopped up the wells that Abraham's servants had dug before his death. 16Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”

17Isaac left and settled in Gerar Valley, 18where he cleaned out those wells that the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac also gave each of the wells the same name#26.18 gave … same name: By doing this Isaac claimed ownership of the wells. that Abraham had given to them. 19While his servants were digging in the valley, they found a spring-fed well. 20But the shepherds of Gerar Valley quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them. So this well was named “Quarrel,” because they had quarreled with Isaac.

21Isaac's servants dug another well, and the shepherds also quarreled about it. So that well was named “Jealous.” 22Finally, they dug one more well. There was no quarreling this time, and the well was named “Lots of Room,” because the Lord had given them room and would make them very successful.

23Isaac went on to Beersheba, 24where the Lord appeared to him that night and told him, “Don't be afraid! I am the God who was worshiped by your father Abraham, my servant. I will be with you and bless you, and because of Abraham I will give you many descendants.” 25Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up camp, and his servants started digging a well.

26 # Gn 21.22. Meanwhile, Abimelech had left Gerar and was taking his advisor Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol to see Isaac. 27When they arrived, Isaac asked, “Why are you here? Didn't you send me away because you hated me?”

28They answered, “We now know for certain that the Lord is with you, and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us. So let's make a solemn agreement 29not to harm each other. Remember, we have never hurt you, and when we sent you away, we let you go in peace. The Lord has truly blessed you.”

30Isaac gave a big feast for them, and everyone ate and drank. 31Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.

32Later that same day Isaac's servants came and said, “We've struck water!” 33So Isaac named the well Shibah,#26.33 Shibah: In Hebrew “Shibah” sounds something like “good luck” and “promise.” and the town is still called Beersheba.#26.33 Beersheba: Meaning “Well of Good Fortune” or “Peace Treaty Well.”

Esau's Foreign Wives

34When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35But these two women brought a lot of grief to Esau's parents Isaac and Rebekah.

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Genesis 26: CEV

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Genesis 26

God made the same promise to Isaac that he made to Abraham

1At another time, there was no rain and no food plants growing in the country where Isaac and Rebekah lived. It was like the time when there was no rain a long time before, while Abraham was still alive.

So Isaac and his family left that country, and they went to the town called Gerar, in Philistia country. The big boss of the Philistia people was called Abimelek, and he lived in that town.

2God showed himself to Isaac in that place, and God said, “Don’t go to Egypt country to try to get food. I’m going to tell you where you have to live. 3-4I’m telling you to camp here, in this country. You don’t need to worry. I will be with you, to take care of you. I will keep on being good to you. Remember that strong promise that I made to your father Abraham. Now I’m making the same promise to you. I will give you a really big family. You see, lots of kids and grand-kids will be born into your family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of stars in the sky. And I will give them all of this country, and I will use them to do good things for all the nations in the world.#Genesis 12:2-3, 7; 15:5; 22:16-18; Acts 3:25 5You know, your father Abraham listened to me and did what I told him to do. That’s why I’m making that same promise to you that I made to him.”

6So Isaac set up his camp in Gerar, just like God told him to.

Isaac tried to trick the men in Gerar

7The men in Gerar saw Isaac’s wife Rebekah, and they asked Isaac, “Who is that woman?”#Genesis 12:13; 20:2

You know, Rebekah was very beautiful. So Isaac got worried about those men. He thought, “Maybe those men want to marry Rebekah. If I tell them that she is my wife, maybe they will kill me to get her.”

So Isaac lied and said, “She is my sister.”

8After that, Isaac and Rebekah lived in Gerar for a long time. But one day Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia people, he looked out of his window, and he saw Isaac hugging Rebekah. Then Abimelek knew that Rebekah was Isaac’s wife. 9So Abimelek sent somebody to get Isaac. Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Now I know that Rebekah is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said, “I was too frightened to say, ‘She is my wife.’ I thought that the men in Gerar will kill me and take Rebekah for themselves. So I said, ‘She is my sister.’ ”

10Then Abimelek was angry. He said to Isaac, “That was a bad thing that you did to us. You didn’t tell us that Rebekah is your wife. We thought that she is not married. What if one of my men slept with her, like men sleep with their wives? Think about that. Then me and all my people, we would be guilty of that bad thing.”

11After that, Abimelek talked strongly to all the people in Gerar. He said, “If any one of you hurts Isaac or Rebekah, I will kill you.”

God was good to Isaac

12While Isaac lived in Gerar, he planted seeds in the ground. And God was really good to Isaac. That same year, those seeds grew into really good food plants, so Isaac had lots and lots of food. 13And Isaac got more and more money and good things, and he became very rich. 14He had lots of sheep and cows, and lots of people that worked for him.

The Philistia people that lived in Gerar, they saw that Isaac was very rich, and they got jealous of him. 15So they got dirt and filled up the water-holes that Isaac was using. A long time before that, Isaac’s father Abraham got his workers to dig those water-holes.

Isaac dug some water-holes

16Then Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia people, he said to Isaac, “Listen, you and your mob are a lot stronger than us now, so I don’t want you to keep on living here. You have to leave this place.”

17So Isaac and his family left Gerar, and they moved their camp to a place called the Valley of Gerar, and they lived in that place for a long time.

18A long time before this, when Isaac’s father Abraham was alive, Abraham and his workers dug lots of water-holes in that place, and Abraham gave all those water-holes names. But then, after Abraham died, the Philistia people filled up all those water-holes with dirt, so nobody could get water from them. Now, when Isaac moved there, he got his workers to take the dirt out of those water-holes, so that everybody could get water again. And Isaac gave those water-holes the same names that Abraham gave them a long time before.

19One day, Isaac’s workers dug a new water-hole in the valley, and they found fresh running water in that hole. 20But there were some men there from Gerar, looking after their animals, and those men came and argued with the men that looked after Isaac’s animals. The men from Gerar said, “That water belongs to us.” So Isaac called that water-hole Esek. That name means they argue.

21After that, Isaac’s workers dug another water-hole, but the men from Gerar came and argued with them about that water-hole too. So Isaac called that water-hole Sitnah. That name means they are enemies.

22Then Isaac moved his camp to a new place, and his workers dug a water-hole in that place. This time, nobody argued with them about the water-hole. So Isaac called that water-hole Rehoboth. That name means big place. And Isaac said, “God has given us a big place to live. Our family will grow here, and our life will be good.”

God talked to Isaac at Beersheba

23Later on, Isaac moved his camp to the place called Beersheba.

24When Isaac got to Beersheba, that same night, God showed himself to Isaac. God said, “I am God. I am the one that looked after your father Abraham. Don’t be frightened. I am here with you, to take care of you. I will be good to you, and I will give you a really big family, just like I promised to your father Abraham.”

25Then Isaac wanted to show respect to God, so he piled up stones to make a table with a flat top. It was a special place for him to burn animals to show right respect to God. Then Isaac prayed to God, and he called God by his special name Yahweh.

After that, Isaac set up his camp, and he sent his workers to go and dig a water-hole.

Isaac and Abimelek made an agreement

26Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia mob, he wanted to talk to Isaac again. So he left his home in Gerar, and he went to Isaac’s camp in Beersheba. He took 2 other men with him. One of those men was called Ahuzath, and he was Abimelek’s helper. The other man was called Ficol, and he was the leader of Abimelek’s army.

27When Isaac saw Abimelek and the 2 other men, he was shocked, and he said, “You told me to leave your country, so I know you hate me. So why did you come here to talk to me?”

28Then they said to Isaac, “We know that Yahweh your God is with you, and he helps you with everything you do. So we want you to make an agreement with us. 29We want you to promise that you will never hurt us or our people. Remember that time when you lived in our country. We never hurt you, and we always did good things for you. Even when we told you to leave our country, we didn’t make trouble for you. After that, your God kept on being good to you. That’s why we are asking you to promise that you will never hurt us.”

30Then Isaac agreed to make that promise, and he got lots of good food ready for Abimelek and the other 2 men. They all ate that food together, and then they stayed the night in that place. 31Early the next morning, they got up, and Isaac and Abimelek made strong promises to each other. They said, “I promise that I will never hurt you or your people.” So Isaac and Abimelek both felt happy and quiet inside themselves. Then Isaac said goodbye to Abimelek and the other 2 men, and they left to go back to their home country.

32Later that day, Isaac’s workers came to him, and they said, “We dug a water-hole, just like you said, and we found water.” 33Then Isaac called that water-hole Sheba. That name means promise. So people kept on calling the town near there Beersheba. That name means water-hole where they made a promise. They still use that town’s name today.

Esau married 2 women

34Isaac and Rebekah’s oldest son was called Esau. When Esau was 40 years old, he married 2 women. One of those women was called Judith. Her father was called Beeri, and he was from the Heth tribe. The other woman was called Basemath. Her father was called Elon, and he was from the Heth tribe too. 35Those 2 women gave Isaac and Rebekah a lot of trouble, and that made them very sad.

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