Genesis 26
26
1And there is a famine in the land, besides the first famine which was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac goeth unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
2And Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith, ‘Go not down towards Egypt, tabernacle in the land concerning which I speak unto thee,
3sojourn in this land, and I am with thee, and bless thee, for to thee and to thy seed I give all these lands, and I have established the oath which I have sworn to Abraham thy father;
4and I have multiplied thy seed as stars of the heavens, and I have given to thy seed all these lands; and blessed themselves in thy seed have all nations of the earth;
5because that Abraham hath hearkened to My voice, and keepeth My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.’
6And Isaac dwelleth in Gerar;
7and men of the place ask him of his wife, and he saith, ‘She [is] my sister:’ for he hath been afraid to say, ‘My wife — lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, for she [is] of good appearance.’
8And it cometh to pass, when the days have been prolonged to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looketh through the window, and seeth, and lo, Isaac is playing with Rebekah his wife.
9And Abimelech calleth for Isaac, and saith, ‘Lo, she [is] surely thy wife; and how hast thou said, She [is] my sister?’ and Isaac saith unto him, ‘Because I said, Lest I die for her.’
10And Abimelech saith, ‘What [is] this thou hast done to us? as a little thing one of the people had lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us guilt;’
11and Abimelech commandeth all the people, saying, ‘He who cometh against this man or against his wife, dying doth die.’
12And Isaac soweth in that land, and findeth in that year a hundredfold, and Jehovah blesseth him;
13and the man is great, and goeth on, going on and becoming great, till that he hath been very great,
14and he hath possession of a flock, and possession of a herd, and an abundant service; and the Philistines envy him,
15and all the wells which his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust.
16And Abimelech saith unto Isaac, ‘Go from us; for thou hast become much mightier than we;’
17and Isaac goeth from thence, and encampeth in the valley of Gerar, and dwelleth there;
18and Isaac turneth back, and diggeth the wells of water which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines do stop after the death of Abraham, and he calleth to them names according to the names which his father called them.
19And Isaac's servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water,
20and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, ‘The water [is] ours;’ and he calleth the name of the well ‘Strife,’ because they have striven habitually with him;
21and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calleth its name ‘Hatred.’
22And he removeth from thence, and diggeth another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calleth its name Enlargements, and saith, ‘For — now hath Jehovah given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.’
23And he goeth up from thence [to] Beer-Sheba,
24and Jehovah appeareth unto him during that night, and saith, ‘I [am] the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I [am] with thee, and have blessed thee, and have multiplied thy seed, because of Abraham My servant;’
25and he buildeth there an altar, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah, and stretcheth out there his tent, and there Isaac's servants dig a well.
26And Abimelech hath gone unto him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol head of his host;
27and Isaac saith unto them, ‘Wherefore have ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and ye send me away from you?’
28And they say, ‘We have certainly seen that Jehovah hath been with thee, and we say, ‘Let there be, we pray thee, an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29do not evil with us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have only done good with thee, and send thee away in peace; thou [art] now blessed of Jehovah.’
30And he maketh for them a banquet, and they eat and drink,
31and rise early in the morning, and swear one to another, and Isaac sendeth them away, and they go from him in peace.
32And it cometh to pass during that day that Isaac's servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have digged, and say to him, ‘We have found water;’
33and he calleth it Shebah, [oath,] therefore the name of the city [is] Beer-Sheba, [well of the oath,] unto this day.
34And Esau is a son of forty years, and he taketh a wife, Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite,
35and they are a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 26
26
God’s Promise to Isaac
(Genesis 12:1–9)
1Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you. 3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”
8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
10“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
Isaac’s Prosperity
12Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, 13and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy. 14He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.
16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
17So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.
19Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water #26:19 Or flowing water or living water there. 20But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek,#26:20 Esek means contention. because they contended with him.
21Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.#26:21 Sitnah means enmity or hostility.
22He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth #26:22 Rehoboth means broad places or open spaces. and said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
23From there Isaac went up to Beersheba, 24and that night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.
Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech
26Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.
27“Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.”
28“We can plainly see that the Lord has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you 29that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
30So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
32On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him. 33So he called it Shibah,#26:33 Shibah can mean oath or seven. and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.#26:33 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath.
Esau’s Wives
34When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
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