| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. 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 down in the land that I will point out to you. | 2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. |
| 3Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made 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 multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. | 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. |
| 5All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me 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. |
| 7When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very 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.” |
| 8After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. | 8But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. |
| 9So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "Because I thought someone might kill me to get 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. |
| 10Then Abimelech exclaimed, "What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on 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 commanded all the people, "Whoever touches 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 |
| 12When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because 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. |
| 13The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. | 13He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. |
| 14He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of 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 filled up all the wells that his father's servants had dug back 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, "Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are." | 16Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.” |
| 17So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. | 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 back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac 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. |
| 19When Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing water there, | 19Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water. |
| 20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water belongs to us!" So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it. | 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”). |
| 21His servants dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac 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”). |
| 22Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will prosper 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 Beer Sheba. | 23From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, |
| 24The LORD appeared to him that night 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.” |
| 25Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. | 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 |
| 26Now Abimelech had come to him from Gerar along with Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. | 26One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander. |
| 27Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you." | 27“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.” |
| 28They replied, "We could plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us--between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty 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. |
| 29so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. 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 held a feast for them and they celebrated. | 30So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together. |
| 31Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. | 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. |
| 32That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. "We've found water," they reported. | 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 named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day. | 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 married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the 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. |
| 35They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety. | 35But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. |
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