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. 2And the Lord cappeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dstay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3Live for a time in this land and eI will be with you and fbless you, for gto you and to your ▼▼Lit seed
descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ithe oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 jI will multiply your ▼▼Lit seed
descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ▼▼Lit seed
descendants all these lands; and mby your ▼▼Lit seed
descendants all the nations of the earth ▼▼Or bless themselves
shall be blessed, 5because Abraham ▼▼Lit listened diligently to My voice
qobeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” 6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “ rShe is my sister,” for he was safraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “ ▼▼Lit lest...place
the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is ubeautiful.” 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 vAbimelech 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 wtouches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.” 12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and ▼▼Lit found
reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And ythe Lord blessed him, 13and the man zbecame rich, and continued to grow ▼▼Lit great
richer until he became very ▼▼Lit great
wealthy; 14for ache had possessions of flocks ▼▼Lit and possessions of herds
and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15Now aeall the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up ▼▼Lit and filled them
by filling them with dirt. 16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ▼▼Lit much mightier than we
ahtoo powerful for us.” 17So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and ▼▼Lit dwelt
settled there. Argument 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. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ▼▼Lit living
flowing water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar anquarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ▼▼I.e., argument
Esek, because they argued with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ▼▼I.e., accusation
Sitnah. 22Then 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
asAt last the Lord has made ▼▼Or broad
room for us, and we will be aufruitful in the land.” 23 And he went up from there to avBeersheba. 24And the Lord awappeared to him the same night and said, “ axI am the God of your father Abraham;
ayDo not fear, for I am with you.
I azwill bless you and multiply your ▼
▼Lit seed
descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” 25 So he built an bbaltar 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 bcAbimelech came to him from Gerar ▼▼Lit and his confidential friend
with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27Isaac said to them, “ beWhy have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We have seen plainly bfthat the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken ▼▼Lit between us
by us,’ that is, ▼▼Lit between us and you
by 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 ▼▼Lit and just as we
and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the bjblessed of the Lord.” 30Then bkhe made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they got up early and ▼▼Lit swore one to another
bmexchanged 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 ▼▼Meaning uncertain, perhaps oath
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; 35and brthey ▼▼Lit were a bitterness of spirit to
brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
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