| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham's time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. | 1Later 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. |
| 2The LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; | 2That's when the LORD appeared to Isaac. "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. |
| 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. | 3Remain 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. |
| 4I 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 by your offspring, | 4I'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. |
| 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions." | 5I'm going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws." |
| 6So Isaac settled in Gerar. | 6So Isaac lived in Gerar. |
| 7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say "my wife," thinking, "The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman." | 7Later on, the men of that place asked about his wife, so he replied, "She's my sister," because he was afraid to call her "my wife." He kept thinking, "…otherwise, the men around here will kill me on account of Rebekah, since she's very beautiful." |
| 8When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. | 8After he had been there awhile, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. |
| 9Abimelech 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." | 9So Abimelech called Isaac and confronted him. "She is definitely your wife!" he accused him, "So why did you claim, 'She's my sister?'" Isaac responded, "Because I had thought '…otherwise, I'll die on account of her.'" |
| 10Then 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." | 10"What have you done to us?" Abimelech asked. "Any minute now, one of the people could have had sex with your wife and you would have caused all of us to be guilty." |
| 11So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: "Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die." | 11So he issued this order to everyone: "Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed." |
| 12Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The LORD blessed him, | 12Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him. |
| 13and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. | 13He became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth, becoming more and more wealthy. |
| 14He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him. | 14He owned so many sheep, cattle, and servants that the Philistines eventually became envious of him. |
| 15The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father's slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with dirt. | 15They filled in with sand all of the wells that Isaac's father Abraham's servants had dug during his lifetime. |
| 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us." | 16Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, "Move away from us! You've become more powerful than we are." |
| 17So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. | 17So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the Gerar Valley, where he settled. |
| 18Isaac 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. | 18Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them. |
| 19Then Isaac's slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring water there. | 19While Isaac's servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water. |
| 20But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Quarrel because they quarreled with him. | 20But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it. |
| 21Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. | 21When his workers started digging another well, those herdsmen quarreled about that one, too, so Isaac named it Sitnah. |
| 22He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land." | 22Then he left that area and dug still another well. Because they did not quarrel over that one, Isaac named it Rehoboth, because he used to say, "The LORD has enlarged the territory for us. We will prosper in the land." |
| 23From there he went up to Beer-sheba, | 23Later on, he left there and went to Beer-sheba, |
| 24and the 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 offspring because of My servant Abraham." | 24where one night the LORD appeared to him. "I am the God of your father Abraham," he told him. "Don't be afraid, because I'm with you. I'm going to bless you and multiply your descendants on account of my servant Abraham." |
| 25So he built an altar there, called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac's slaves also dug a well there. | 25In response, Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. He also pitched his tents there and his servants dug a well. |
| 26Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. | 26Later, Abimelech traveled from Gerar to visit Isaac . He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army. |
| 27Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you." | 27"Why have you come to see me," Isaac asked them, "since you hate me so much that you sent me away from you?" |
| 28They 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: | 28"We've seen that the LORD is with you," they responded, "so we're proposing an agreement between us—between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you |
| 29You 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." | 29by which you'll agree not to do us any harm, just as we haven't harmed you, since we've done nothing but good for you after we sent you away in peace. As a result, you've been tremendously blessed by the LORD." |
| 30So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. | 30So Isaac held a festival for them, and they ate and drank. |
| 31They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. | 31They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty. After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms. |
| 32On that same day Isaac's slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, "We have found water!" | 32That very same day, Isaac's servants arrived and reported to him about a well that they had just completed digging. "We've found water!" they said. |
| 33He called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day. | 33So Isaac named the well Shebah, which is why the city is named Beer-sheba to this day. |
| 34When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. | 34When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. |
| 35They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. | 35This brought extreme grief to Isaac and Rebekah. |
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