1There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, “Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3#Gen 22.16–18Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands.”

6So Isaac lived at Gerar. 7#Gen 12.13; 20.2When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful. 8When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love. 9Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?”

He answered, “I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife.”

10“What have you done to us?” Abimelech said. “One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt.” 11Abimelech warned all the people: “Anyone who ill-treats this man or his wife will be put to death.”

12Isaac sowed seed in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the LORD blessed him. 13He continued to prosper and became a very rich man. 14Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him. 15So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.

16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are.” 17So Isaac left and set up his camp in the Valley of Gerar, where he stayed for some time. 18He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

19Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley and found water. 20The shepherds of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's shepherds and said, “This water belongs to us.” So Isaac named the well “Quarrel”.

21Isaac's servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it “Enmity”. 22He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it “Freedom”. He said, “Now the LORD has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here.”

23Isaac left and went to Beersheba. 24That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham.” 25Isaac built an altar there and worshipped the LORD. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.

The Agreement between Isaac and Abimelech

26 # Gen 21.22 Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac. 27So Isaac asked, “Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?”

28They answered, “Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise 29that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you leave peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you.” 30Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said goodbye to them, and they parted as friends.

32On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, “We have found water.” 33He named the well “Vow”. That is how the city of Beersheba#26.33 Beersheba: This name in Hebrew means “Well of the Vow” or “Well of Seven” (see also 21.31). got its name.

Esau's Foreign Wives

34When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon. 35They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.

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Genesis 26

1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will]. And Yitz’chak [Laughter] went unto Avi-melekh (my father is king) king of the P’lishtim (wanderers) unto G’rar (a lodging place).

2And the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Mitzrayim [Egypt] (Double Distress or Double Stronghold, Black Land); dwell in the land which I shall tell youi of:

3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with youi, and will bless youi; for unto youi, and unto youri seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] youri father;

4And I will make youri seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto youri seed all these countries; and in youri seed shall all the nations of the earth be Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous);

5Because that Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6And Yitz’chak [Laughter] dwelt in G’rar (a lodging place):

7And the men of the 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 Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured); because she [was] fair to look upon.

8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Avi-melekh (my father is king) king of the P’lishtim (wanderers) looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Yitz’chak [Laughter] [was] sporting with Rivkah his wife.

9And Avi-melekh called Yitz’chak [Laughter], and said, Behold, of a surety she [is] youri wife: and [why did] youi say, She [is] my sister? And Yitz’chak [Laughter] said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10And Avi-melekh said, What [is] this youi hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have laid with youri wife, and youi should have brought guiltiness upon us.

11And Avi-melekh charged all [his] people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12Then Yitz’chak [Laughter] sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) him.

13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the P’lishtim (wanderers) envied him.

15For all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] his father, the P’lishtim (wanderers) had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16And Avi-melekh said unto Yitz’chak [Laughter], Go from us; for youi are much mightier than we.

17And Yitz’chak [Laughter] departed there, and pitched his tent in the valley of G’rar (a lodging place), and dwelt there.

18And Yitz’chak [Laughter] dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] his father; for the P’lishtim had stopped them after the death of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will]: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19And Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20And the herdsmen of G’rar did strive with Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] herdsmen, saying, The water [is] ours: and he called the name of the well ‘Esek (contention); because they strove with him.

21And they dug another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah (strife, hatred (being an enemy)).

22And he removed from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rekhovot (wide open spaces); and he said, For now the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23And he went up from there to Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath).

24And the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) appeared unto him the same night, and said, I [am] the God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] youri father: fear not, for I [am] with youi, and will bless youi, and multiply youri seed for my servant Avraham’s [exalted father/Fly They Will] sake.

25And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate), and pitched his tent there: and there Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants dug a well.

26Then Avi-melekh (my father is king) went to him from G’rar (a lodging place), and Achuzat (possession) one of his friends, and Pikhol (mouth of all) the chief captain of his army.

27And Yitz’chak [Laughter] said unto them, For what reason come you1sf to me, seeing you1sf hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) was with youi: and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, [even] between us and youi, and let us make a covenant with youi;

29That youi will do us no hurt, as we have not touched youi, and as we have done unto youi nothing but good, and have sent youi away in peace: youi [are] now the Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate).

30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31And they rose up early in the morning, and swore one to another: and Yitz’chak [Laughter] sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32And it came to pass the same day that Yitz’chak’s [Laughter] servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said unto him, We have found water.

33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city [is] unto this day.

34And ‘Esav (hairy) was forty years old when he took to wife Y’hudit (Let the Powerful One be Praised [Yah]) the daughter of Be’eri (my well) the Hitti (terrorists), and Basmat (spice) the daughter of Eilon (terebinth- Pistacia terebinthus- source of tanning material and turpentine; mighty) the Hitti (terrorists):

35Which were a grief of mind unto Yitz’chak [Laughter] and to Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured).

For more information about the NMV, details about why the names of God are notated and translated as they are, or to learn about the special markings and translations used in this text, click below.

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Genesis 26

Genesis 26