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) The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 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) 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) because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:4 Or will bless themselves

Isaac Lives in Philistia for a While

26 Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham’s lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

That’s when the Lord appeared to Isaac.[a] “You are not to go down to Egypt,” he said. “Instead, you are to settle down in an area within this land where I’ll tell you. Remain in this land, and I’ll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another. I’m going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:2 Lit. him