Isaac and Abimelek^(A)

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)

Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing

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)

Esther Made Queen

2 Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided,^(A) he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. ² Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. ³ Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. ⁴ Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

⁵ Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,^{(B) 6} who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin^[a](C) king of Judah.^{(D) 7} Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther,^(E) had a lovely figure^(F) and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

⁸ When the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa^(G) and put under the care of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and entrusted to Hegai, who had charge of the harem. ⁹ She pleased him and won his favor.^(H) Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food.^(I) He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the harem.

¹⁰ Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so.^{(J) 11} Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

¹² Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes^(K) and cosmetics. ¹³ And this is how she would go to the king: Anything she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. ¹⁴ In the evening she would go there and in the morning return to another part of the harem to the care of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines.^(L) She would not return to the king unless he was pleased with her and summoned her by name.^(M)

¹⁵ When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail^(N)) to go to the king,^(O) she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor^(P) of everyone who saw her. ¹⁶ She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

¹⁷ Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen^(Q) instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ And the king gave a great banquet,^(R) Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials.^(S) He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality.^(T)

Mordecai Uncovers a Conspiracy

¹⁹ When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.^{(U) 20} But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.^(V)

²¹ During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana^[b] and Teresh, two of the king’s officers^(W) who guarded the doorway, became angry^(X) and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. ²² But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. ²³ And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled^(Y) on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals^(Z) in the presence of the king.^(AA)

Psalm 25^[a]

Of David.