Gen 26 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now 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 .

Genesis 26

Isaac Settles in Gerar

1 Now there was ^aa famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^bAbimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The Lord ^cappeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^{▼▼ Lit dwell
,} ^estay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 “Sojourn in this land and ^fI will be with you and ^gbless you, for ^hto you and to your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^jthe oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 ^k“I will multiply your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants all these lands; and ⁿby your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants all the nations of the earth ^{▼▼ Or bless themselves}shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham ^{▼▼ Lit hearkened to My voice
,} ^robeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

6 So Isaac ^{▼▼ Lit dwelt}lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, ^t“She is my sister,” for he was ^uafraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, ^{▼▼ Lit lest...place}“the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is ^wbeautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” 10 ^xAbimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who ^ytouches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^{▼▼ Lit found}reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And ^aathe Lord blessed him, 13 and the man ^abbecame rich, and continued to grow ^{▼▼ Lit great}richer until he became very ^{▼▼ Lit great}wealthy; 14 for ^aehe had possessions of flocks ^{▼▼ Lit and possessions of herds}and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now ^agall the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up ^{▼▼ Lit and filled them}by filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^{▼▼ Lit much mightier than we
,} ^ajtoo powerful for us.” 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and ^{▼▼ Lit dwelt}settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^{▼▼ Lit they had dug}had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^{▼▼ Lit called their names as the names}gave them the same names which his father had ^{▼▼ Lit called}given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^{▼▼ Lit living}flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar ^apquarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^{▼▼ I.e. contention}Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^{▼▼ I.e. enmity}Sitnah. 22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^{▼▼ I.e. broad places}Rehoboth, for he said, ^{▼▼ Lit Truly now
,} ^au“At last the Lord has made ^{▼▼ Or broad}room for us, and we will be ^awfruitful in the land.”

23 Then he went up from there to ^axBeersheba. 24 The Lord ^ayappeared to him the same night and said, ^az“I am the God of your father Abraham;
^baDo not fear, for I am with you.
I ^bbwill bless you, and multiply your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

25 So he built an ^bdaltar 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

26 Then ^beAbimelech came to him from Gerar ^{▼▼ Lit and his confidential friend}with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, ^bg“Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly ^bhthat the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between ^{▼▼ Lit us and you}you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^{▼▼ Lit and just as we}and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^bkblessed of the Lord.’” 30 Then ^blhe made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they arose early and ^{▼▼ Lit swore one to another
,} ^bnexchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from 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 Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^boBeersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old ^bphe ^{▼▼ Lit took as wife}married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and ^brthey ^{▼▼ Lit were a bitterness of spirit to}brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.