26 There 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. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac. He said, ‘Do not go to Egypt. Instead, live in the land that I will show to you. 3 Stay 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. 4 I 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. [ a ] 5 This will happen because Abraham obeyed me. He obeyed all my laws and rules, and he did what I told him to do.’
6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 The 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. [ b ]
8 Isaac 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. [ c ] 9 Abimelech 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.’
10 Abimelech 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.’ 11 So Abimelech told his people, ‘I will kill anyone who hurts this man, or his wife.’
12 Isaac 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. [ d ]
13 Isaac became rich. His riches continued to grow so that he became a very important person. 14 He 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. 15 So 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.
16 Abimelech said to Isaac ‘You have become too powerful for us. Go and live somewhere else.’
17 So Isaac moved away from that place. He put his tents in the Valley of Gerar and he stayed there. 18 Isaac 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.
19 Isaac's servants went to dig in the valley. They found another well there. It was full of fresh water. 20 But 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. [ e ]
21 So Isaac's servants dug another well. But the shepherds of Gerar quarrelled about that one too. Isaac called that well Sitnah. [ f ]
22 Isaac moved away from Sitnah and he dug another well. No one quarrelled with him about this well. So he called it Rehoboth. [ g ] He said, ‘Now the Lord has given us a place to live. We will have many good things in this land.’
23 From that place, Isaac went to Beersheba. 24 That 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.’
25 Isaac built an altar there and he worshipped the Lord . He put up his tent there. His servants dug a well.
26 During that time, Abimelech came from Gerar to visit Isaac. He came with Ahuzzath his officer and with Phicol the leader of his army. [ h ]
27 Isaac asked them, ‘Why have you come to me? You hated me and you sent me away from you.’ 28 They 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. 29 Promise 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.’
30 Then Isaac made a large meal for them. And they all ate happily together. [ i ] 31 Early the next morning, they promised each other to be friends. Then Isaac said ‘goodbye’ to them. They left as his friends.
32 The same day, Isaac's servants came to him. They told him about a well that they had dug. They said, ‘We have found water!’ 33 Isaac called the well Shibah. So the town is still called Beersheba. [ j ]
34 When 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. 35 Esau's wives brought a lot of trouble to Isaac and Rebekah. [ k ]
26 Now there was a famine. This was like the famine that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. 2 The Lord spoke to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I commanded you to live in. 3 Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your family all these lands. I will do what I promised to Abraham your father. 4 I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven, and I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants [ a ] every nation on earth will be blessed. 5 I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed my words and did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my laws, and my rules.”
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about Rebekah. He said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to tell them Rebekah was his wife. He was afraid the men would kill him so that they could have her.
8 After Isaac had lived there a long time, Abimelech looked out of his window and saw Isaac and his wife enjoying one another. 9 Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you tell us that she was your sister?”
Isaac said to him, “I was afraid that you would kill me so that you could have her.”
10 Abimelech said, “You have done a bad thing to us. One of our men might have had sex with your wife. Then he would be guilty of a great sin.”
11 So Abimelech gave a warning to all the people. He said, “No one must hurt this man or this woman. If anyone hurts them, they will be killed.”
12 Isaac planted fields in that place, and that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. 13 Isaac became rich. He gathered more and more wealth until he became a very rich man. 14 He had many flocks and herds of animals. He also had many slaves. All the Philistines were jealous of him. 15 So they destroyed all the wells that Isaac’s father Abraham and his servants had dug many years before. They filled them with sand. 16 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are.”
17 So Isaac left that place and camped near the little river of Gerar. He stayed there and lived. 18 Long before this time, Abraham had dug many wells. After he died, the Philistines filled the wells with sand. So Isaac went back and dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac’s servants also dug a well near the little river and found fresh water. [ b ] 20 But the men who herded sheep in the Valley of Gerar argued with Isaac’s servants. They said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Esek. [ c ] He gave it that name because it was the place where they had argued with him.
21 Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. But there was an argument over this well too. So Isaac named that well Sitnah. [ d ]
22 Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one came to argue about this well. So Isaac named it Rehoboth. [ e ] He said, “Now the Lord has found a place for us. We will grow and be successful in this place.”
23 From there Isaac went to Beersheba. 24 The Lord spoke to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid. I am with you, and I will bless you. I will make your family great. I will do this because of my servant Abraham.” 25 So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord in that place. He set up camp there, and his servants dug a well.
26 Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.
27 Isaac asked, “Why have you come to see me? You were not friendly to me before. You even forced me to leave your country.”
28 They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. We think that we should make an agreement. We want you to make a promise to us. 29 We did not hurt you; now you should promise not to hurt us. We sent you away, but we sent you away in peace. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you.”
30 So Isaac gave a party for them. They all ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning each man made a promise and a vow. Then the men left in peace.
32 On that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. The servants said, “We found water in that well.” 33 So Isaac named it Shibah. [ f ] And that city is still called Beersheba. [ g ]
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith the daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath the daughter of Elon. 35 These marriages made Isaac and Rebekah very unhappy.
26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 Sojourn 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 countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7 And 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 Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
24 And 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 servant Abraham's sake.
25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord , and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29 That 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 .
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
33 And 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:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
26 Now there was ( A ) a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ( B ) Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the Lord ( C ) appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ( D ) stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Live for a time in this land and ( E ) I will be with you and ( F ) bless you, for ( G ) to you and to your [ a ] descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ( H ) the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 ( I ) I will multiply your [ b ] descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your [ c ] descendants all these lands; and ( J ) by your [ d ] descendants all the nations of the earth [ e ] shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham [ f ] ( K ) obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “ ( L ) She is my sister,” for he was ( M ) afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking , “ [ g ] the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is ( N ) beautiful.” 8 Now 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. 9 Then 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.’” 10 And ( O ) 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.” 11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who ( P ) touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and [ h ] reaped in the same year a hundred times as much . And ( Q ) the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man ( R ) became rich, and continued to grow [ i ] richer until he became very [ j ] wealthy; 14 for ( S ) he had possessions of flocks [ k ] and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now ( T ) all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up [ l ] by filling them with dirt. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are [ m ] ( U ) too powerful for us.” 17 So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and [ n ] settled there.
18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which [ o ] had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he [ p ] gave them the same names which his father had [ q ] given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of [ r ] flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar ( V ) quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well [ s ] Esek, because they argued with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it [ t ] Sitnah. 22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it [ u ] Rehoboth, for he said, “ [ v ] ( W ) At last the Lord has made [ w ] room for us, and we will be ( X ) fruitful in the land.”
23 And he went up from there to ( Y ) Beersheba. 24 And the Lord ( Z ) appeared to him the same night and said,
“ ( AA ) I am the God of your father Abraham;
( AB ) Do not fear, for I am with you.
I ( AC ) will bless you and multiply your [ x ] descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25 So he built an ( AD ) altar there and called upon the name of the Lord , and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26 Then ( AE ) Abimelech came to him from Gerar [ y ] with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “ ( AF ) Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We have seen plainly ( AG ) that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken [ z ] by us,’ that is , [ aa ] by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you [ ab ] and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ( AH ) blessed of the Lord .” 30 Then ( AI ) he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they got up early and [ ac ] ( AJ ) exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace. 32 Now 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.” 33 So he called it [ ad ] Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ( AK ) Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old ( AL ) he [ ae ] married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and ( AM ) they [ af ] brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
26 Now there was a famine in the land ( B ) —besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines ( C ) in Gerar. ( D ) 2 The Lord appeared ( E ) to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ( F ) live in the land where I tell you to live. ( G ) 3 Stay in this land for a while, ( H ) and I will be with you ( I ) and will bless you. ( J ) For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands ( K ) and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ( L ) 4 I will make your descendants ( M ) as numerous as the stars in the sky ( N ) and will give them all these lands, ( O ) and through your offspring [ a ] all nations on earth will be blessed, [ b ] ( P ) 5 because Abraham obeyed me ( Q ) and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees ( R ) and my instructions. ( S ) ” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. ( T )
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister, ( U ) ” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines ( V ) looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? ( W ) ”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? ( X ) One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms ( Y ) this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” ( Z )
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, ( AA ) because the Lord blessed him. ( AB ) 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. ( AC ) 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants ( AD ) that the Philistines envied him. ( AE ) 15 So all the wells ( AF ) that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, ( AG ) filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; ( AH ) you have become too powerful for us. ( AI ) ”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, ( AJ ) where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells ( AK ) that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled ( AL ) with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” ( AM ) So he named the well Esek, [ c ] because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled ( AN ) over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. [ d ] 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, [ e ] ( AO ) saying, “Now the Lord has given us room ( AP ) and we will flourish ( AQ ) in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. ( AR ) 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. ( AS ) Do not be afraid, ( AT ) for I am with you; ( AU ) I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants ( AV ) for the sake of my servant Abraham.” ( AW )
25 Isaac built an altar ( AX ) there and called on the name of the Lord . ( AY ) There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. ( AZ )
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. ( BA ) 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away? ( BB ) ”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; ( BC ) so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty ( BD ) with you 29 that you will do us no harm, ( BE ) just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord .” ( BF )
30 Isaac then made a feast ( BG ) for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath ( BH ) to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well ( BI ) they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, [ f ] and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. [ g ] ( BJ )
34 When Esau was forty years old, ( BK ) he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ( BL ) 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. ( BM )
