Genesis 26
26
Isaac and Abimelek
1There was very little food in the land. The same thing had been true earlier, in Abraham’s time. Isaac went to Abimelek in Gerar. Abimelek was the king of the Philistines. 2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay there for a while. I will be with you and give you my blessing. I will give all these lands to you and your children after you. And I will keep my word that I gave to your father Abraham. 4I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. 5I will do all these things because Abraham obeyed me. He did everything I required. He kept my commands, my rules and my instructions.” 6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7The men of that place asked him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She’s my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah. She’s a beautiful woman.”
8Isaac had been there a long time. One day Abimelek, the king of the Philistines, looked down from a window. He saw Isaac hugging and kissing his wife Rebekah. 9So Abimelek sent for Isaac. He said, “She’s really your wife, isn’t she? Why did you say she was your sister?”
Isaac answered him, “I thought I might lose my life because of her.”
10Then Abimelek said, “What have you done to us? What if one of the men slept with your wife? Then you would have made us guilty.”
11So Abimelek gave orders to all the people. He said, “Anyone who harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
12Isaac planted crops in that land. That same year he gathered 100 times more than he planted. That was because the Lord blessed him. 13Isaac became rich. His wealth continued to grow until he became very rich. 14He had many flocks and herds and servants. Isaac had so much that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15So they stopped up all the wells the servants of his father Abraham had dug. They filled them with dirt.
16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us. You have become too powerful for us.”
17So Isaac moved away from there. He camped in the Valley of Gerar, where he made his home. 18Isaac opened up the wells again. They had been dug in the time of his father Abraham. The Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave the wells the same names his father had given them.
19Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley. There they discovered fresh water. 20But the people of Gerar who took care of their own herds argued with the people who took care of Isaac’s herds. “The water is ours!” the people of Gerar said. So Isaac named the well Esek. That’s because they argued with him. 21Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. They argued about that one too. So he named it Sitnah. 22Isaac moved on from there and dug another well. But no one argued about that one. So he named it Rehoboth. He said, “Now the Lord has given us room. Now we will be successful in the land.”
23From there Isaac went up to Beersheba. 24That night the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bless you. I will increase the number of your children because of my servant Abraham.”
25Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. There he set up his tent. And there his servants dug a well.
26During that time, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar. His personal adviser, Ahuzzath, had come with him. So had his army commander, Phicol. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You were angry with me and sent me away.”
28They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘There should be an agreement between us and you.’ We want to make a peace treaty with you. 29Give us your word that you won’t harm us. We didn’t harm you. We always treated you well. We sent you away peacefully. And now the Lord has blessed you.”
30Then Isaac had a feast prepared for them. They ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men made a treaty with each other. Then Isaac sent the men of Gerar on their way. And they left peacefully.
32That day Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33So he named it Shibah. To this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34When Esau was 40 years old, he got married to Judith. She was the daughter of Beeri the Hittite. Esau also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35Isaac and Rebekah became very upset because Esau had married Hittite women.
Currently Selected:
Genesis 26: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Genesis 26
26
1 There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2The LORD appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. 3Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
6 Isaac lived in Gerar. 7The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” 8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. 9Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”
10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
11Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him. 13The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 14He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. 15Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. 16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17 Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.
18 Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing#26:19 Or, living. Or, fresh. water. 20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,#26:20 “Esek” means “contention”. because they contended with him. 21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah.#26:21 “Sitnah” means “hostility”. 22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth.#26:22 “Rehoboth” means “broad places”. He said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
23 He went up from there to Beersheba. 24The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
25 He built an altar there, and called on the LORD’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”
28 They said, “We saw plainly that the LORD was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let’s make a covenant with you, 29that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of the LORD.”
30 He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33He called it “Shibah”.#26:33 Shibah means “oath” or “seven”. Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba”#26:33 Beersheba means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven” to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN