BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

The Lord, an Abundant Helper.

Isaac Settles in Gerar

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.

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[a]reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And ^(A)the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(B)became rich, and continued to grow ^[b]richer until he became very ^[c]wealthy; ¹⁴ for ^(C)he had possessions of flocks ^[d]and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now ^(D)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up ^[e]by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[f](E)too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and ^[g]settled there.

Argument over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[h]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[i]gave them the same names which his father had ^[j]given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[k]flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(F)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[l]Esek, because they argued with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[m]Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[n]Rehoboth, for he said, “^[o](G)At last the Lord has made ^[p]room for us, and we will be ^(H)fruitful in the land.”

²³ And he went up from there to ^(I)Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(J)appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So he built an ^(N)altar 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 ^(O)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[r]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “^(P)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We have seen plainly ^(Q)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken ^[s]by us,’ that is, ^[t]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 ^[u]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(R)blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ Then ^(S)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they got up early and ^[v](T)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 ^[w]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(U)Beersheba to this day.

^17 (A)Obey your leaders and submit to them—for ^(B)they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they may do this with joy, not ^[a]groaning; for this would be unhelpful for you.

^18 (C)Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a ^(D)good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. ¹⁹ And I urge you all the more to do this, ^(E)so that I may be restored to you more quickly.

Benediction

²⁰ Now may ^(F)the God of peace, who ^(G)brought up from the dead the ^(H)great Shepherd of the sheep ^[b]through ^(I)the blood of the ^(J)eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord, ^21 (K)equip you in every good thing to do His will, ^(L)working in us that ^(M)which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, ^(N)to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² But ^(O)I urge you, ^(P)brothers and sisters, ^[c]listen patiently to ^[d]this ^(Q)word of exhortation, for ^(R)I have written to you briefly. ²³ Know that ^(S)our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. ²⁴ Greet ^(T)all of your leaders and all the ^[e](U)saints. Those from ^(V)Italy greet you.

^25 (W)Grace be with you all.

⁵³ [[^[a]And everyone went to his home.

The Adulterous Woman

8 But Jesus went to ^(A)the Mount of Olives. ² And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and ^(B)He sat down and began teaching them. ³ Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law, ^(C)Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ Now they were saying this to ^(D)test Him, ^(E)so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ When they persisted in asking Him, ^(F)He straightened up and said to them, “^(G)He who is without sin among you, let him be the ^(H)first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. ¹⁰ And ^(I)straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, ^[b]Lord.” And Jesus said, “^(J)I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not ^(K)sin any longer.”]]