1Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your #26.3: Lit seeddescendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will multiply your #26.4: Lit seeddescendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your #26.4: Lit seeddescendants all these lands; and by your #26.4: Lit seeddescendants all the nations of the earth #26.4: Or bless themselvesshall be blessed, 5because Abraham #26.5: Lit listened diligently to My voiceobeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

6So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “#26.7: Lit lest...placethe men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is beautiful.” 8Now it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through a window, and saw them, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she certainly is your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘otherwise I might be killed on account of her.’ ” 10And Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

12Now Isaac sowed in that land and #26.12: Lit foundreaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And the Lord blessed him, 13and the man became rich, and continued to grow #26.13: Lit greatricher until he became very #26.13: Lit greatwealthy; 14for he had possessions of flocks #26.14: Lit and possessions of herdsand herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up #26.15: Lit and filled themby filling them with dirt. 16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are #26.16: Lit much mightier than wetoo powerful for us.” 17So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and #26.17: Lit dweltsettled there.

Argument over the Wells

18Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which #26.18: Lit they had dughad been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he #26.18: Lit called their names as the namesgave them the same names which his father had #26.18: Lit calledgiven them. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of #26.19: Lit livingflowing water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well #26.20: I.e., argumentEsek, because they argued with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it #26.21: I.e., accusationSitnah. 22Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it #26.22: I.e., broad placesRehoboth, for he said, “#26.22: Lit Truly nowAt last the Lord has made #26.22: Or broadroom for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

23And he went up from there to Beersheba. 24And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

“I am the God of your father Abraham;

Do not fear, for I am with you.

I will bless you and multiply your #26.24: Lit seeddescendants,

For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

25So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

26Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar #26.26: Lit and his confidential friendwith his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We have seen plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken #26.28: Lit between usby us,’ that is, #26.28: Lit between us and youby you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, 29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you #26.29: Lit and just as weand have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they got up early and #26.31: Lit swore one to anotherexchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace. 32Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33So he called it #26.33: Meaning uncertain, perhaps oathShibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

34When Esau was forty years old he #26.34: Lit took as wifemarried Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35and they #26.35: Lit were a bitterness of spirit tobrought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

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Genesis 26

Isaac Lies to Abimelech

1Once there was a time of hunger in the land. This was besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar. He went to see Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your descendants all these lands. I will keep the agreement I made to Abraham your father. 4I will give you many descendants. They will be as hard to count as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed. 5I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed me. He did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my teachings and my rules.”

6So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7Isaac’s wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about her. Isaac said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to tell them she was his wife. He thought they might kill him so they could have her.

8Isaac lived there a long time. One day as Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out his window, he saw Isaac. Isaac was holding his wife Rebekah tenderly. 9Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you say she was your sister?”

Isaac said to him, “I was afraid you would kill me so you could have her.”

10Abimelech said, “What have you done to us? One of our men might have had physical relations with your wife. Then we would have been guilty of a great sin.”

11So Abimelech warned everyone. He said, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”

Isaac Becomes Rich

12Isaac planted seed in that land. And that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. 13Isaac became rich. He gathered more wealth until he became a very rich man. 14He had many slaves and many flocks and herds. The Philistines envied him. 15So they stopped up all the wells the servants of Isaac’s father Abraham had dug. (They had dug them when Abraham was alive.) The Philistines filled those wells with dirt. 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are.”

17So Isaac left that place. He camped in the Valley of Gerar and lived there. 18Long before this time Abraham had dug many wells. After Abraham died, the Philistines filled them with dirt. So Isaac dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley. From it a spring of water flowed. 20But the men who herded sheep in Gerar argued with Isaac’s servants. They said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Argue because they argued with him. 21Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. The people also argued about it. So Isaac named that well Fight. 22Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one argued about this one. So he named that well Room Enough. Isaac said, “Now the Lord has made room for us. We will be successful in this land.”

23From there Isaac went to Beersheba. 24The Lord appeared to Isaac that night. The Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants. I will do this because of my servant Abraham.” 25So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord there. He made a camp there, and his servants dug a well.

26Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. Abimelech brought with him Ahuzzath, who advised him, and Phicol, the commander of his army. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to see me? You were my enemy. You forced me to leave your country.”

28They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. We will make a promise to you. And we would like you to make one to us. We would like to make an agreement with you. 29We did not hurt you. So promise you will not hurt us. And we were good to you, and we sent you away in peace. Now the Lord has blessed you.”

30So Isaac prepared food for them, and they all ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men made a promise to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left in peace.

32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We found water in that well.” 33So Isaac named it Shibah# This name sounds like the Hebrew words for “seven” and “promise.” and that city is still called Beersheba even now.

34When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath daughter of Elon. 35These women brought much sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

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Genesis 26

Genesis 26