1A famine came over the land, not the same as the first famine, which had taken place when Avraham was alive. Yitz’chak went to G’rar, to Avimelekh king of the P’lishtim. 2Adonai appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt, but live where I tell you. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, because I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants. I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Avraham your father — 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, I will give all these lands to your descendants, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless themselves. 5All this is because Avraham heeded what I said and did what I told him to do — he followed my mitzvot, my regulations and my teachings.”

(ii) 6So Yitz’chak settled in G’rar. 7The men of the place asked him about his wife, and out of fear he said, “She is my sister.” He thought, “If I tell them she’s my wife, they might kill me in order to take Rivkah. After all, she is a beautiful woman.” 8But one day, after he had lived there a long time, Avimelekh king of the P’lishtim happened to be looking out of a window when he spotted Yitz’chak caressing Rivkah his wife. 9Avimelekh summoned Yitz’chak and said, “So she is your wife, after all! How come you said, ‘She is my sister’?” Yitz’chak responded, “Because I thought, ‘I could get killed because of her.’” 10Avimelekh said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 11Then Avimelekh warned all the people: “Whoever touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

12Yitz’chak planted crops in that land and reaped that year a hundred times as much as he had sowed. Adonai had blessed him.

(iii) 13The man became rich and prospered more and more, until he had become very wealthy indeed. 14He had flocks, cattle and a large household; and the P’lishtim envied him. 15Now the P’lishtim had stopped up and filled with dirt all the wells his father’s servants had dug during the lifetime of Avraham his father. 16Avimelekh said to Yitz’chak, “You must go away from us, because you have become much more powerful than we are.” 17So Yitz’chak left, set up camp in Vadi G’rar and lived there. 18Yitz’chak reopened the wells which had been dug during the lifetime of Avraham his father, the ones the P’lishtim had stopped up after Avraham died, and called them by the names his father had used for them. 19Yitz’chak’s servants dug in the vadi and uncovered a spring of running water. 20But the herdsmen of G’rar quarreled with Yitz’chak’s herdsmen, claiming, “That water is ours!” So he called the well ‘Esek [quarrel], because they quarreled with him. 21They dug another well and quarreled over that one too. So he called it Sitnah [enmity]. 22He went away from there and dug another well, and over that one they didn’t quarrel. So he called it Rechovot [wide open spaces] and said, “Because now Adonai has made room for us, and we will be productive in the land.”

(iv) 23From there Yitz’chak went up to Be’er-Sheva. 24Adonai appeared to him that same night and said, “I am the God of Avraham your father. Don’t be afraid, because I am with you; I will bless you and increase your descendants for the sake of my servant Avraham.” 25There he built an altar and called on the name of Adonai. He pitched his tent there, and there Yitz’chak’s servants dug a well.

26Then Avimelekh went to him from G’rar with his friend Achuzat and Pikhol the commander of his army. 27Yitz’chak said to them, “Why have you come to me, even though you were unfriendly to me and sent me away?” 28They answered, “We saw very clearly that Adonai has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there be an oath between us: let’s make a pact between ourselves and you 29that you will not harm us, just as we have not caused you offense but have done you nothing but good and sent you on your way in peace. Now you are blessed by Adonai.’”

(v) 30Yitz’chak prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31The next morning, they got up early and swore to each other. Then Yitz’chak sent them on their way, and they left him peacefully. 32That very day Yitz’chak’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, “We have found water.” 33So he called it Shiv‘ah [oath, seven], and for this reason the name of the city is Be’er-Sheva [well of seven, well of an oath] to this day.

34When ‘Esav was forty years old, he took as wives Y’hudit the daughter of Be’eri the Hitti and Basmat the daughter of Elon the Hitti. 35But they became a cause for embitterment of spirit to Yitz’chak and Rivkah.

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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

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B'resheet (Gen) 26

Genesis 26