Genesis 26

Isaac's Fear and Deception Genesis 26:7–11

⁷Verse 7. The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” ⁸Verse 8. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. ⁹Verse 9. Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

¹⁰Verse 10. Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” ¹¹Verse 11. Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

Isaac's Prosperity and Envy Genesis 26:12–16

¹²Verse 12. Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. ¹³Verse 13. The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. ¹⁴Verse 14. He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. ¹⁵Verse 15. Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. ¹⁶Verse 16. Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

The Wells of Abraham Genesis 26:17–22

¹⁷Verse 17. Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. ¹⁸Verse 18. Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. ¹⁹Verse 19. Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. ²⁰Verse 20. The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹Verse 21. They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah.

²²Verse 22. He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

God's Reassurance and Covenant Genesis 26:23–31

²³Verse 23. He went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴Verse 24. Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵Verse 25. He built an altar there, and called on Yahweh’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well. ²⁶Verse 26. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. ²⁷Verse 27. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸Verse 28. They said, “We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹Verse 29. that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of Yahweh.” ³⁰Verse 30. He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹Verse 31. They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob Genesis 26:32–35

³²Verse 32. The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³Verse 33. He called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. ³⁴Verse 34. When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵Verse 35. They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.