Welcome to our website where we explore the Bible! Pleasure to meet you here!
May your journey into the world of the Holy Scriptures be engaging and inspiring!
You can change reading language: uk ru
Parallel
New International Version
New Living Translation
Isaac and Abimelek
Now there was a famine in the land — besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time — and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.
Now there was a famine in the land — besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time — and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
A 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.
A 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.
The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.
Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
I 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.
because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”
I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”
When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
When 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.”
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.
So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
Immediately, 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.
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
“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.”
So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”
Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.
Conflict over Water Rights
When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him.
The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.
He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.
So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
So 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.
Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”
So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled.
So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down.
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
He 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.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
But 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”).
Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”).
Abandoning 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.”
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 will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
where 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.”
Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.
Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.
Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech
One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.
Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”
They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’ — between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you
They 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.
that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
Swear 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!”
Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together.
Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
Early 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.
That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”
That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed.
So 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”).
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon.