Genesis 26
26
Isaac Lies to Abimelech
1Now there was a famine. This was like the famine that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. 2The Lord spoke to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I commanded you to live in. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your family all these lands. I will do what I promised to Abraham your father. 4I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven, and I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants#26:4 descendants Or “Descendant.” See Gal. 3:16. every nation on earth will be blessed. 5I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed my words and did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my laws, and my rules.”
6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about Rebekah. He said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to tell them Rebekah was his wife. He was afraid the men would kill him so that they could have her.
8After Isaac had lived there a long time, Abimelech looked out of his window and saw Isaac and his wife enjoying one another. 9Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you tell us that she was your sister?”
Isaac said to him, “I was afraid that you would kill me so that you could have her.”
10Abimelech said, “You have done a bad thing to us. One of our men might have had sex with your wife. Then he would be guilty of a great sin.”
11So Abimelech gave a warning to all the people. He said, “No one must hurt this man or this woman. If anyone hurts them, they will be killed.”
Isaac Becomes Rich
12Isaac planted fields in that place, and that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. 13Isaac became rich. He gathered more and more wealth until he became a very rich man. 14He had many flocks and herds of animals. He also had many slaves. All the Philistines were jealous of him. 15So they destroyed all the wells that Isaac’s father Abraham and his servants had dug many years before. They filled them with sand. 16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are.”
17So Isaac left that place and camped near the little river of Gerar. He stayed there and lived. 18Long before this time, Abraham had dug many wells. After he died, the Philistines filled the wells with sand. So Isaac went back and dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19Isaac’s servants also dug a well near the little river and found fresh water.#26:19 fresh water Or “an underground stream.” Literally, “living water.” 20But the men who herded sheep in the Valley of Gerar argued with Isaac’s servants. They said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Esek.#26:20 Esek This means “argument” or “fight.” He gave it that name because it was the place where they had argued with him.
21Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. But there was an argument over this well too. So Isaac named that well Sitnah.#26:21 Sitnah This means “hatred” or “being an enemy.”
22Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one came to argue about this well. So Isaac named it Rehoboth.#26:22 Rehoboth This means “open place” or “crossroads.” He said, “Now the Lord has found a place for us. We will grow and be successful in this place.”
23From there Isaac went to Beersheba. 24The Lord spoke to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid. I am with you, and I will bless you. I will make your family great. I will do this because of my servant Abraham.” 25So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord in that place. He set up camp there, and his servants dug a well.
26Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.
27Isaac asked, “Why have you come to see me? You were not friendly to me before. You even forced me to leave your country.”
28They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. We think that we should make an agreement. We want you to make a promise to us. 29We did not hurt you; now you should promise not to hurt us. We sent you away, but we sent you away in peace. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you.”
30So Isaac gave a party for them. They all ate and drank. 31Early the next morning each man made a promise and a vow. Then the men left in peace.
32On that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. The servants said, “We found water in that well.” 33So Isaac named it Shibah.#26:33 Shibah A Hebrew word meaning “seven” or “oath.” And that city is still called Beersheba.#26:33 Beersheba This name means “well of the oath.”
Esau’s Wives
34When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith the daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath the daughter of Elon. 35These marriages made Isaac and Rebekah very unhappy.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 26
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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