26Later on, a famine swept through the land. This was a different famine from the previous one that occurred during Abraham's lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.H7458H776H905H7223H7458H3117H85H3327H3212H40H4428H6430H1642 2That's when the Lord appeared to him. "You are not to go down to Egypt," he said. "Instead, you are to settle down in the land in the area where I'll tell you.H3068H7200H559H3381H4714H7931H776H559 3Remain in this land, and I'll be with and will 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.H1481H776H1288H2233H5414H411H776H6965H7621H7650H85H1 4"I'll multiply your descendants as the star 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.H7235H2233H7235H3556H8064H5414H2233H411H776H2233H1471H776H1288 5I'm going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws."H6118H85H8085H6963H8104H4931H4687H2708H8451 6So Isaac lived in Gerar.H3327H3427H1642 7Later on, the men of the 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 is very beautiful."H582H4725H7592H802H559H269H3372H559H802H582H4725H2026H7259H2896H4758 8After he had been there a while, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.H748H3117H40H4428H6430H8259H1157H2474H7200H3327H6711H7259H802 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 to him, "Because I had thought '…otherwise, I'll die on account of her.'"H40H7121H3327H559H389H802H559H269H3327H559H559H4191 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 brought guilt on all of us."H40H559H6213H259H5971H4592H7901H802H935H817 11So he issued this order to all the people: "Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed." 10H40H6680H5971H559H5060H376H802H4191H4191 12Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the Lord blessed him.H3327H2232H776H4672H8141H3967H8180H3068H1288 13The man became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth, becoming more and more wealthy.H376H1431H3212H1980H1432H1431H3966H1431 14He owned so many sheep, cattle, and servants that the Philistines eventually became envious of him.H4735H6629H4735H1241H7227H5657H6430H7065 15They filled in with sand all of the wells that his father Abraham's servants had dug during his lifetime.12H875H1H5650H2658H3117H85H1H6430H5640H4390H6083 16Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, "Move away from us! You've become more powerful than we are."H40H559H3327H3212H3966H6105 17So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the Gerar Valley, where he settled.H3327H3212H2583H5158H1642H3427H8033 18Isaac re-excavated some water wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had blocked them after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed them with the same names that his father had called them.H3327H2658H7725H875H4325H2658H3117H85H1H6430H5640H310H4194H85H7121H8034H8034H834H1H7121 19While Isaac's servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water.H3327H5650H2658H5158H4672H875H2416H4325 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.H7462H1642H7378H3327H7462H559H4325H7121H8034H875H6230H6229 21When his workers started digging another well, they quarreled about that one, too, so he named it Sitnah.H2658H312H875H7378H7121H8034H7856 22Then he left that area and dug still another well. Because they did not quarrel over that one, he named it Rehoboth, because he used to say, "The Lord has enlarged the territory for us. We will prosper in the land."H6275H2658H312H875H7378H7121H8034H7344H559H6258H3068H7337H6509H776 23Later on, he left there and went to Beersheba,H5927H884 24where one night the Lord appeared to him. "I'm 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."H3068H7200H3915H559H430H85H1H3372H854H1288H7235H2233H5650H85 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.H1129H4196H7121H8034H3068H5186H168H3327H5650H3738H875 26Later, Abimelech traveled to visit Isaac from Gerar. He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army. "Why have you come to see me," Isaac asked them, "since you hate me so muc h that you sent me away from you?"H40H1980H1642H276H4828H6369H8269H6635 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 youH559H7200H7200H3068H559H423H996H996H3772H1285 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."H6213H7451H5060H6213H7535H2896H7971H7965H6258H1288H3068 30So Isaac held a feast for them and they ate and drank.H6213H4960H398H8354 31They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty. After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms.H7925H1242H7650H376H251H3327H7971H3212H7965 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.H3117H3327H5650H935H5046H182H875H2658H559H4672H4325 33So Isaac named the well Shebah, which is why the city is named Beersheba to this day.H7121H7656H8034H5892H884H3117 34When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.H6215H705H8141H1121H3947H802H3067H1323H882H2850H1315H1323H356H2850 35This brought extreme grief to Isaac and Rebekah.H4786H7307H3327H7259
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