Isaac and Abimelech

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.^{(A) 2} The Lord appeared to Isaac^[a] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you.^{(B) 3} Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.^{(C) 4} I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring,^{(D) 5} because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶ So Isaac settled in Gerar.

¹² Isaac sowed seed in that land and in the same year reaped a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,^{(A) 13} and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.^{(B) 15} (Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.)^{(C) 16} And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Wadi Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham, and he gave them the names that his father had given them.^{(D) 19} But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, ²⁰ the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herders, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the well Esek,^[a] because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also, so he called it Sitnah.^{[b] 22} He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he called it Rehoboth,^[c] saying, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”^(E)

²³ From there he went up to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ And that very night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham’s sake.”^{(F) 25} So he built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.^(G)

²⁶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.^{(H) 27} Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”^{(I) 28} They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you, so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you^{(J) 29} so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths, and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.^{(K) 32} That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[d] therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba^[e] to this day.^(L)

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing, for that would be harmful to you.^(A)

¹⁸ Pray for us; we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.^{(B) 19} I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,^{(C) 21} make you complete in everything good^[a] so that you may do his will, as he works among us^[b] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever.^[c] Amen.^(D)

Final Exhortation and Greetings

²² I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. ²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free, and if he comes in time he will be with me when I see you.^{(E) 24} Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. ²⁵ Grace be with all of you.^[d](F)

The Woman Caught in Adultery

[[⁵³ Then each of them went home, 8 ¹ while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”^{(A) 6} They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”^{(B) 8} And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.^{(C) 10} Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, sir.”^[a] And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]]^[b](D)