Genesis 26
26
1There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2-5 God appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I’ll be with you and bless you. I’m giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings.”
6So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
7The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful.”
8-9One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So, she’s your wife. Why did you tell us ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac said, “Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her.”
10Abimelech said, “But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us.”
11Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: “Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.”
12-15Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.
16Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: “Leave. You’ve become far too big for us.”
17-18So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
19-24One day, as Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, claiming, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” From there he went up to Beersheba. That very night God appeared to him and said,
I am the God of Abraham your father;
don’t fear a thing because I’m with you.
I’ll bless you and make your children flourish
because of Abraham my servant.
25Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.
26-27Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head of his troops. Isaac asked them, “Why did you come to me? You hate me; you threw me out of your country.”
28-29They said, “We’ve realized that God is on your side. We’d like to make a deal between us—a covenant that we maintain friendly relations. We haven’t bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. So—God’s blessing be with you!”
30-31Isaac laid out a feast and they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac said good-bye and they parted as friends.
32-33Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, “We’ve struck water!” Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that’s the name of the city, Beersheba (Oath-Well), to this day.
* * *
34-35When Esau was forty years old he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. They turned out to be thorns in the sides of Isaac and Rebekah.
* * *
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Genesis 26: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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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