Genesis 26
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac
26 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time.(A) And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.(B) 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you.(C) For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring,(D) and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.(E) 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed[a] by your offspring,(F) 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.”(G) 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
Isaac’s Deception
7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”(H) for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking,(I) “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”(J) 8 When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see[b] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”(K) 11 So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”
Conflicts over Wells
12 Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped[c] a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him,(L) 13 and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. 14 He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him. 15 The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham,(M) filling them with dirt. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.”[d]
17 So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18 Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Then Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring[e] water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Quarrel[f] because they quarreled with him.(N) 21 Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility.[g] 22 He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces[h] and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
The Lord Appears to Isaac
23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba, 24 and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.(O) Do not be afraid, for I am with you.(P) I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.”
25 So he built an altar there,(Q) called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s slaves also dug a well there.(R)
Covenant with Abimelech
26 Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.(S) 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”
28 They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: 29 You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.”(T)
30 So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31 They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other.[i](U) Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 32 On that same day Isaac’s slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!”(V) 33 He called it Sheba.[j] Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba[k](W) to this day.
Esau’s Wives
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.(X) 35 They made life bitter[l] for Isaac and Rebekah.(Y)
Footnotes
- Genesis 26:4 Or will bless themselves
- Genesis 26:8 Or and he looked and behold—
- Genesis 26:12 Lit found
- Genesis 26:16 Or are more numerous than we are
- Genesis 26:19 Lit living
- Genesis 26:20 Or Esek
- Genesis 26:21 Or Sitnah
- Genesis 26:22 Or Rehoboth
- Genesis 26:31 Lit swore, each man to his brother
- Genesis 26:33 Or Shibah
- Genesis 26:33 = Well of the Oath
- Genesis 26:35 Lit And they became bitterness of spirit
Genesis 26
New International Reader's Version
Isaac and Abimelek
26 There was very little food in the land. The same thing had been true earlier, in Abraham’s time. Isaac went to Abimelek in Gerar. Abimelek was the king of the Philistines. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay there for a while. I will be with you and give you my blessing. I will give all these lands to you and your children after you. And I will keep my word that I gave to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. 5 I will do all these things because Abraham obeyed me. He did everything I required. He kept my commands, my rules and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 The men of that place asked him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She’s my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah. She’s a beautiful woman.”
8 Isaac had been there a long time. One day Abimelek, the king of the Philistines, looked down from a window. He saw Isaac hugging and kissing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelek sent for Isaac. He said, “She’s really your wife, isn’t she? Why did you say she was your sister?”
Isaac answered him, “I thought I might lose my life because of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What have you done to us? What if one of the men slept with your wife? Then you would have made us guilty.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people. He said, “Anyone who harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted crops in that land. That same year he gathered 100 times more than he planted. That was because the Lord blessed him. 13 Isaac became rich. His wealth continued to grow until he became very rich. 14 He had many flocks and herds and servants. Isaac had so much that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So they stopped up all the wells the servants of his father Abraham had dug. They filled them with dirt.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us. You have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there. He camped in the Valley of Gerar, where he made his home. 18 Isaac opened up the wells again. They had been dug in the time of his father Abraham. The Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave the wells the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley. There they discovered fresh water. 20 But the people of Gerar who took care of their own herds argued with the people who took care of Isaac’s herds. “The water is ours!” the people of Gerar said. So Isaac named the well Esek. That’s because they argued with him. 21 Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. They argued about that one too. So he named it Sitnah. 22 Isaac moved on from there and dug another well. But no one argued about that one. So he named it Rehoboth. He said, “Now the Lord has given us room. Now we will be successful in the land.”
23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bless you. I will increase the number of your children because of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. There he set up his tent. And there his servants dug a well.
26 During that time, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar. His personal adviser, Ahuzzath, had come with him. So had his army commander, Phicol. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You were angry with me and sent me away.”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘There should be an agreement between us and you.’ We want to make a peace treaty with you. 29 Give us your word that you won’t harm us. We didn’t harm you. We always treated you well. We sent you away peacefully. And now the Lord has blessed you.”
30 Then Isaac had a feast prepared for them. They ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men made a treaty with each other. Then Isaac sent the men of Gerar on their way. And they left peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 So he named it Shibah. To this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he got married to Judith. She was the daughter of Beeri the Hittite. Esau also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 Isaac and Rebekah became very upset because Esau had married Hittite women.
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