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God made the same promise to Isaac that had he made to Abraham
1-6 There came a time when there was not much food in the country where Isaac and Rebekah were living. But God said to Isaac, “Do not go down to Egypt. I want you to stay in this country.
This hard time will not last long and I will bless you, I will look after you and do good things for you and make you strong.
Just like I promised your father Abraham, I make this same promise to you. I will give you all this country. Yes, I will give it to you and to all the family that comes from you.+ And just like I promised your father, your family will be like the stars in the sky, they will be so many you will not be able to count them. Your family will have this country and I will use them to do good things for all the people in the world. Your father Abraham listened to me and did everything I told him to do. That is why I am making this promise to you now.”
Isaac moved his camp to Gerar and stayed there. This was the country where Abimelek was the king of the Philistines.
7 The men in Gerar saw Rebekah and saw that she was very beautiful. They asked Isaac who she was and he said, “She is my sister.” Isaac was frightened that if he said, “She is my wife,” the men would kill him so that they could have her.
8 Isaac and Rebekah lived there for a long time. One day Abimelek, king of the Philistines looked down from his window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. 9 Abimelek sent someone to get Isaac and when he arrived, Abimelek said, “Rebekah is your wife! Why did you tell everyone that she is your sister?” +
Isaac answered, “I was frightened that one of your men might kill me so that they could have her for a wife.”
10 Abimelek was angry with Isaac and said, “What were you thinking? One of my men might have taken Rebekah as his wife. That man would not know that he had done the wrong thing, but all of our people would be guilty for what happened!”
11 Then Abimelek made a new law and said to his people, “Anyone that hurts Isaac or Rebekah will be killed!”
Isaac gets very rich
12-13 While Isaac lived in Gerar, he started to grow seed plants. The Lord was good to Isaac, and in that first year his plants grew so much seed that he became very rich. 14 Isaac had so many sheep, cattle and workmen that the Philistine people in that land were jealous of him. 15 They were so jealous, they filled in the water holes Abraham's workers had dug many years before. 16 Abimelek went to see Isaac and said, “You have to go away from here and live somewhere else. You are too strong for us and there will be trouble if you do not go.
17 So Isaac moved his camp away from Gerar. He went to a dry river bed called the Valley of Gerar.
Isaac dug new waterholes
18 Many years before this time, Abraham had dug waterholes in this country too, but after he died, the Philistine people filled them up with dirt. Isaac got his workers to dig all the dirt out of those waterholes and he called the waterholes the same names Abraham did. 19 Isaac's workers dug in the dry river bed and found fresh water. 20 But the men that looked after animals from Gerar said, “That water is ours!” They argued with Isaac's workers and so Isaac called that waterhole Esek which means Argue in their language. 21 His workers dug another waterhole and the Gerar men said the same thing and so Isaac called that waterhole, Sitnah which means They are against us. 22 Isaac moved again and his workers dug another waterhole. This time no-one came to fight them for the water and so Isaac called it Rehoboth which means More Room. He said, “God has given us this place, and our families can stay here and have a good life.”
23 Later on, Isaac moved his camp to Beersheba. 24 That same night, the Lord came to Isaac and said, “Do not be frightened. I am the God that your father Abraham respected, and I will look after you. I will bless you, I will do good things for you and make you strong. Your sons will have big families. This is the same promise I made to your father. He trusted me and so that is why I am making this promise with you.” 25 Isaac made an altar table made of stones, and burnt an animal on it to show the Lord respect. And it was there that Isaac called out to God and used God's name.
Isaac got his workers to dig another waterhole, so that they could camp there for a while.
26 Abimelek came from Gerar to visit Isaac. He had his close helper named Ahuzzath and the leader of their army named Fycol. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to talk to me? You forced me to leave your country. You spoke to me as if you hated me and I was your enemy!”
28-29 King Abimelek said, “When you lived with us, we were good to you. And we could see that God was helping you. God blessed you and did good things for you and made you strong. God helped you that much that you started to be too strong for us, and we were frightened of what you might do. That is why we sent you away and did not try to hurt you. We wanted to live quietly by ourselves. But we can see that God is doing more good things for you. And so, we think that you and I should make a promise that our people will not fight each other.”
30 Isaac told his workers to get a big party ready for everybody, and they all ate and drank together. 31 Early the next morning, Isaac and Abimelek had a special promise ceremony. They shook hands and promised that their people would not fight each other. Isaac said goodbye to Abimelek and his men and from that time there was no more trouble between them.+
32 That same day, Isaac's workers came and told him about the new waterhole they dug. They said, “We have found water!” 33 Isaac called that new waterhole, Shibah which means Promise. That is why that place is still called Beersheba, even today. Beersheba means Promise Waterhole.
34 Isaac and Rebekah's oldest son Esau did not marry girls from his own tribe. He was 40 years old when he married Judith the daughter of a man named Berri, and he married Bas-e-math the daughter of Elon too. Both these families were from the Hittite tribe. 35 And those Hittite women gave Isaac and Rebekah a lot of trouble. +
+ 26:1-6 Genesis 12:7,10; 13:14-15; 17:8; 22:16-18; 28:13-14; 48:3-4 + 26:9 Genesis 12:13; 20:2 + 26:31 Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14 + 26:35 Genesis 28:8