Genesis 26
26
Chapter 26
Isaac and Abimelech
1There was another famine in the land. This had happened before, when Abraham was alive. Now Isaac went to Gerar to visit Abimelech, the king of the Philistines. 2The Lord appeared to Isaac. He said, ‘Do not go to Egypt. Instead, live in the land that I will show to you. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give these lands to you and your descendants. I made a strong promise to your father Abraham. I will make that promise become true. 4I will give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give these lands to them. Because of your descendants, I will bless everyone on the earth. #26:4 God made this promise become true when he sent Jesus Christ into the world. Through Jesus, God has blessed everyone on the earth. 5This will happen because Abraham obeyed me. He obeyed all my laws and rules, and he did what I told him to do.’
6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7The men of Gerar asked Isaac about his wife. He told them, ‘She is my sister.’ He was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife.’ He thought that the men of Gerar might kill him because Rebekah was very beautiful. #26:7 See Genesis 12:11-14.
8Isaac stayed in Gerar for a long time. One day Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked down from his window. He saw that Isaac was kissing Rebekah. #26:8 Abimelech saw that Isaac and Rebekah were married. 9Abimelech called Isaac to come to him. He said, ‘Rebekah is your wife! Why did you say, “She is my sister”?’ Isaac replied, ‘I thought that someone might kill me because of her.’
10Abimelech said, ‘You have done a bad thing against us! One of my men might have had sex with your wife. Then we would have been guilty of a bad sin.’ 11So Abimelech told his people, ‘I will kill anyone who hurts this man, or his wife.’
12Isaac planted crops in the land and they grew very well. They made 100 times the amount of food that he had planted. This was because the Lord blessed him. #26:12 The Lord kept his promise. He blessed Isaac because he did not go to Egypt. He blessed him, even when Isaac did not tell the truth to the Philistines about Rebekah.
13Isaac became rich. His riches continued to grow so that he became a very important person. 14He had many sheep, goats and cows. He also had many servants in his house. He had so many servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15So they took dirt from the ground and they filled up Isaac's wells. When Abraham was alive, his servants had dug these wells to get water.
16Abimelech said to Isaac ‘You have become too powerful for us. Go and live somewhere else.’
17So Isaac moved away from that place. He put his tents in the Valley of Gerar and he stayed there. 18Isaac dug the dirt out of the wells that Abraham had dug. After Abraham died the Philistines had filled them with dirt. Isaac gave these wells the same names as his father had given them.
19Isaac's servants went to dig in the valley. They found another well there. It was full of fresh water. 20But the shepherds of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's shepherds. They said, ‘The water belongs to us!’ So Isaac called that well Esek, because they quarrelled with him there. #26:20 Esek means ‘quarrel’.
21So Isaac's servants dug another well. But the shepherds of Gerar quarrelled about that one too. Isaac called that well Sitnah. #26:21 Sitnah means ‘to be against someone’.
22Isaac moved away from Sitnah and he dug another well. No one quarrelled with him about this well. So he called it Rehoboth. #26:22 Rehoboth means ‘to have space or room’. He said, ‘Now the Lord has given us a place to live. We will have many good things in this land.’
23From that place, Isaac went to Beersheba. 24That night the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you. I will give you many descendants because of my servant Abraham.’
25Isaac built an altar there and he worshipped the Lord. He put up his tent there. His servants dug a well.
26During that time, Abimelech came from Gerar to visit Isaac. He came with Ahuzzath his officer and with Phicol the leader of his army. #26:26 Abimelech is a name for the kings of the Philistines. Phicol is a family name.
27Isaac asked them, ‘Why have you come to me? You hated me and you sent me away from you.’ 28They replied, ‘We saw that the Lord is with you. So we said to one another, “There should be an agreement between us and you.” So let us promise to be friends. 29Promise that you will not hurt us. We did not hurt you. We did only good things for you. We sent you away as friends. Now the Lord is blessing you.’
30Then Isaac made a large meal for them. And they all ate happily together. #26:30 Eating a meal together showed that they all agreed to keep the promise. 31Early the next morning, they promised each other to be friends. Then Isaac said ‘goodbye’ to them. They left as his friends.
32The same day, Isaac's servants came to him. They told him about a well that they had dug. They said, ‘We have found water!’ 33Isaac called the well Shibah. So the town is still called Beersheba. #26:33 Shibah means ‘promise’ or ‘seven’. Beersheba means either ‘Well of the promise’ or ‘Well of seven’.
34When Esau was 40 years old, he got married. He married Judith. She was the daughter of Beer the Hittite. He also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35Esau's wives brought a lot of trouble to Isaac and Rebekah. #26:35 Esau lived in Canaan. Esau married women from Canaan. He did not go back to his own relatives to find a wife.
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Genesis 26: EASY
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Bereshis 26
26
1And there was a ra'av (famine) in ha'aretz, besides the ra'av harishon that was in the days of Avraham. And Yitzchak went unto Avimelech Melech Pelishtim (Philistines) unto Gerar.
2And Hashem appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Mitzrayim; dwell in ha'aretz which I shall tell thee of;
3Sojourn in ha'aretz hazot, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy zera, I will give all these lands, and I will perform the shevu'ah (oath) which I swore unto Avraham avichah;
4And I will make thy zera to multiply as the kokhavim of Shomayim, and will give unto thy zera all these lands; and in thy zera shall kol Goyei Ha'Aretz be blessed;
5Because Avraham obeyed My voice, and was shomer over My mishmeret (charge), My mitzvot, My chukkot, and My torot.
6And Yitzchak dwelt in Gerar;
7And the anshei hamakom asked him about his isha; and he said, She is my achot; for he feared to say, She is my isha; lest, said he, the anshei hamakom should kill me for Rivkah; because she was beautiful to look upon.
8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Avimelech Melech Pelishtim (Philistines) looked out at a chalon, and saw, and, hinei, Yitzchak metzachek (was caressing) Rivkah his isha.
9And Avimelech called Yitzchak, and said, Hinei, of a surety she is thy isha; and why saidst thou, She is my achot? And Yitzchak said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.
10And Avimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have slept with thy isha, and thou shouldest have brought asham (guilt) upon us.
11And Avimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his isha shall surely be put to death.
12Then Yitzchak sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and Hashem blessed him.
13And the man became very prosperous, and went forward, and grew until he became gadol me'od:
14For he had possession of tzon, and possession of herds, and many avadim; and the Pelishtim envied him.
15For all the wells which avdei aviv had dug in the days of Avraham aviv, the Pelishtim had stopped them up, and filled them with dirt.
16And Avimelech said unto Yitzchak, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17And Yitzchak departed from there, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18And Yitzchak dug again the be'erot hamayim (wells of water), which they had dug in the days of Avraham aviv; for the Pelishtim had stopped them up after the mot Avraham; and he called their shemot after the shemot by which his av had called them.
19And avdei Yitzchak dug in the valley, and found there a well of mayim chayyim.
20And the herdmen of Gerar did quarrel with Yitzchakʼs herdmen, saying, The mayim is ours; and he called the shem of the well Esek (Contention); because they disputed with him.
21And they dug another be'er, and feuded over that also; and he called the shem of it Sitnah (Enmity).
22And he moved away from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the shem of it Rechovot (Broad Places); and he said, For now Hashem hath made rachav (room) for us, and we shall be fruitful in ha'aretz.
23And he went up from there to Be'er-Sheva.
24And Hashem appeared unto him balailah hahu, and said, I am Elohei Avraham avichah; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy zera for the sake of Avdi Avraham (My Servant Abraham).
25And he built a Mizbe'ach there, and called upon the Shem of Hashem, and pitched his ohel there: and there avdei Yitzchak dug a well.
26Then Avimelech went to him from Gerar, and Achuzzat his adviser, and Phichol the sar tz'va of his.
27And Yitzchak said unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28And they said, We saw certainly that Hashem was with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us cut a brit (covenant) with thee;
29That thou wilt do us no ra'ah, just as we have not touched thee, and just as we have done unto thee nothing but tov, and have sent thee away in shalom; thou art now the Beruch Hashem (the blessed of Hashem).
30And he made them a mishteh (feast), and they did eat and drink.
31And they rose up early in the boker, and swore one to another: and Yitzchak sent them away, and they departed from him in shalom.
32And it came to pass the same day, that the avdei Yitzchak came, and told him concerning the be'er which they had dug, and said unto him, We have found mayim.
33And he called it Shevah (Seven, Oath): therefore the shem of the Ir is Be'er-Sheva unto this day.
34And Esav was arba'im shanah when he took to wife Yehudit the bat Be'eri the Chitti, and Basmat the bat Elon the Chitti:
35and they were a morat ruach (grief of mind) unto Yitzchak and Rivkah.
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