| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. | 1A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived. |
| 2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you. | 2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. |
| 3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. | 3Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. |
| 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, | 4I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. |
| 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” | 5I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.” |
| 6So Isaac settled in Gerar. | 6So Isaac stayed in Gerar. |
| 7But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.” | 7When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.” |
| 8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. | 8But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. |
| 9Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.” | 9Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” “Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied. |
| 10“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” | 10“How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.” |
| 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” | 11Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!” Conflict over Water Rights |
| 12Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, | 12When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him. |
| 13and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy. | 13He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. |
| 14He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. | 14He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. |
| 15So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham. | 15So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham. |
| 16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.” | 16Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.” |
| 17So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. | 17So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down. |
| 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them. | 18He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them. |
| 19Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there. | 19Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water. |
| 20But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. | 20But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”). |
| 21Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. | 21Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”). |
| 22He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” | 22Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the LORD has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.” |
| 23From there Isaac went up to Beersheba, | 23From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, |
| 24and that 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. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.” | 24where the LORD appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.” |
| 25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there. | 25Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well. Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech |
| 26Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. | 26One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander. |
| 27“Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.” | 27“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.” |
| 28“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you | 28They replied, “We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant. |
| 29that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.” | 29Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the LORD has blessed you!” |
| 30So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. | 30So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together. |
| 31And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. | 31Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace. |
| 32On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him. | 32That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed. |
| 33So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba. | 33So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). And to this day the town that grew up there is called Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”). |
| 34When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. | 34At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. |
| 35And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. | 35But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. |
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