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God made the same promise to Isaac that he made to Abraham
1 At another time, there was no rain and no food plants growing in the country where Isaac and Rebekah lived. It was like the time when there was no rain a long time before, while Abraham was still alive.
So Isaac and his family left that country, and they went to the town called Gerar, in Philistia country. The big boss of the Philistia people was called Abimelek, and he lived in that town.
2 God showed himself to Isaac in that place, and God said, “Don’t go to Egypt country to try to get food. I’m going to tell you where you have to live.
3-4 I’m telling you to camp here, in this country. You don’t need to worry. I will be with you, to take care of you. I will keep on being good to you. Remember that strong promise that I made to your father Abraham. Now I’m making the same promise to you. I will give you a really big family. You see, lots of kids and grand-kids will be born into your family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of stars in the sky. And I will give them all of this country, and I will use them to do good things for all the nations in the world.
5 You know, your father Abraham listened to me and did what I told him to do. That’s why I’m making that same promise to you that I made to him.”
6 So Isaac set up his camp in Gerar, just like God told him to.
Isaac tried to trick the men in Gerar
7 The men in Gerar saw Isaac’s wife Rebekah, and they asked Isaac, “Who is that woman?”
You know, Rebekah was very beautiful. So Isaac got worried about those men. He thought, “Maybe those men want to marry Rebekah. If I tell them that she is my wife, maybe they will kill me to get her.”
So Isaac lied and said, “She is my sister.”
8 After that, Isaac and Rebekah lived in Gerar for a long time. But one day Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia people, he looked out of his window, and he saw Isaac hugging Rebekah. Then Abimelek knew that Rebekah was Isaac’s wife.
9 So Abimelek sent somebody to get Isaac. Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Now I know that Rebekah is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac said, “I was too frightened to say, ‘She is my wife.’ I thought that the men in Gerar will kill me and take Rebekah for themselves. So I said, ‘She is my sister.’ ”
10 Then Abimelek was angry. He said to Isaac, “That was a bad thing that you did to us. You didn’t tell us that Rebekah is your wife. We thought that she is not married. What if one of my men slept with her, like men sleep with their wives? Think about that. Then me and all my people, we would be guilty of that bad thing.”
11 After that, Abimelek talked strongly to all the people in Gerar. He said, “If any one of you hurts Isaac or Rebekah, I will kill you.”
God was good to Isaac
12 While Isaac lived in Gerar, he planted seeds in the ground. And God was really good to Isaac. That same year, those seeds grew into really good food plants, so Isaac had lots and lots of food.
13 And Isaac got more and more money and good things, and he became very rich.
14 He had lots of sheep and cows, and lots of people that worked for him.
The Philistia people that lived in Gerar, they saw that Isaac was very rich, and they got jealous of him.
15 So they got dirt and filled up the water-holes that Isaac was using. A long time before that, Isaac’s father Abraham got his workers to dig those water-holes.
Isaac dug some water-holes
16 Then Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia people, he said to Isaac, “Listen, you and your mob are a lot stronger than us now, so I don’t want you to keep on living here. You have to leave this place.”
17 So Isaac and his family left Gerar, and they moved their camp to a place called the Valley of Gerar, and they lived in that place for a long time.
18 A long time before this, when Isaac’s father Abraham was alive, Abraham and his workers dug lots of water-holes in that place, and Abraham gave all those water-holes names. But then, after Abraham died, the Philistia people filled up all those water-holes with dirt, so nobody could get water from them. Now, when Isaac moved there, he got his workers to take the dirt out of those water-holes, so that everybody could get water again. And Isaac gave those water-holes the same names that Abraham gave them a long time before.
19 One day, Isaac’s workers dug a new water-hole in the valley, and they found fresh running water in that hole.
20 But there were some men there from Gerar, looking after their animals, and those men came and argued with the men that looked after Isaac’s animals. The men from Gerar said, “That water belongs to us.” So Isaac called that water-hole Esek. That name means they argue.
21 After that, Isaac’s workers dug another water-hole, but the men from Gerar came and argued with them about that water-hole too. So Isaac called that water-hole Sitnah. That name means they are enemies.
22 Then Isaac moved his camp to a new place, and his workers dug a water-hole in that place. This time, nobody argued with them about the water-hole. So Isaac called that water-hole Rehoboth. That name means big place. And Isaac said, “God has given us a big place to live. Our family will grow here, and our life will be good.”
God talked to Isaac at Beersheba
23 Later on, Isaac moved his camp to the place called Beersheba.
24 When Isaac got to Beersheba, that same night, God showed himself to Isaac. God said, “I am God. I am the one that looked after your father Abraham. Don’t be frightened. I am here with you, to take care of you. I will be good to you, and I will give you a really big family, just like I promised to your father Abraham.”
25 Then Isaac wanted to show respect to God, so he piled up stones to make a table with a flat top. It was a special place for him to burn animals to show right respect to God. Then Isaac prayed to God, and he called God by his special name Yahweh.
After that, Isaac set up his camp, and he sent his workers to go and dig a water-hole.
Isaac and Abimelek made an agreement
26 Abimelek, the big boss of the Philistia mob, he wanted to talk to Isaac again. So he left his home in Gerar, and he went to Isaac’s camp in Beersheba. He took 2 other men with him. One of those men was called Ahuzath, and he was Abimelek’s helper. The other man was called Ficol, and he was the leader of Abimelek’s army.
27 When Isaac saw Abimelek and the 2 other men, he was shocked, and he said, “You told me to leave your country, so I know you hate me. So why did you come here to talk to me?”
28 Then they said to Isaac, “We know that Yahweh your God is with you, and he helps you with everything you do. So we want you to make an agreement with us.
29 We want you to promise that you will never hurt us or our people. Remember that time when you lived in our country. We never hurt you, and we always did good things for you. Even when we told you to leave our country, we didn’t make trouble for you. After that, your God kept on being good to you. That’s why we are asking you to promise that you will never hurt us.”
30 Then Isaac agreed to make that promise, and he got lots of good food ready for Abimelek and the other 2 men. They all ate that food together, and then they stayed the night in that place.
31 Early the next morning, they got up, and Isaac and Abimelek made strong promises to each other. They said, “I promise that I will never hurt you or your people.” So Isaac and Abimelek both felt happy and quiet inside themselves. Then Isaac said goodbye to Abimelek and the other 2 men, and they left to go back to their home country.
32 Later that day, Isaac’s workers came to him, and they said, “We dug a water-hole, just like you said, and we found water.”
33 Then Isaac called that water-hole Sheba. That name means promise. So people kept on calling the town near there Beersheba. That name means water-hole where they made a promise. They still use that town’s name today.
Esau married 2 women
34 Isaac and Rebekah’s oldest son was called Esau. When Esau was 40 years old, he married 2 women. One of those women was called Judith. Her father was called Beeri, and he was from the Heth tribe. The other woman was called Basemath. Her father was called Elon, and he was from the Heth tribe too.
35 Those 2 women gave Isaac and Rebekah a lot of trouble, and that made them very sad.