Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
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There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, "Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.
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Yahweh appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I will tell you of.
3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.
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Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.
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I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed,
5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."
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because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
6 So Isaac lived at Gerar.
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Isaac lived in Gerar.
7 When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.
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The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she was beautiful to look on.
8 When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love.
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It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife.
9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife."
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Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her.'"
10 "What have you done to us?" Abimelech said. "One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt."
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Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!"
11 Abimelech warned all the people: "Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death."
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Abimelech charged all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."
12 Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.
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Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him.
13 He continued to prosper and became a very rich man.
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The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great.
14 Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.
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He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.
15 So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.
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Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are."
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Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we."
17 So Isaac left and set up his camp in Gerar Valley, where he stayed for some time.
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Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.
18 He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
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Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19 Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley and found water.
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Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and said, "This water belongs to us." So Isaac named the well "Quarrel."
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The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.
21 Isaac's servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it "Enmity."
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They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called the name of it Sitnah.
22 He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it "Freedom." He said, "Now the Lord has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here."
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He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, "For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."
23 Isaac left and went to Beersheba.
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He went up from there to Beersheba.
24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."
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Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake."
25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.
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He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well.
26 Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac.
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Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.
27 So Isaac asked, "Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?"
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Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?"
28 They answered, "Now we know that the Lord is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise
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They said, "We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you,
29 that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you go peacefully. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you."
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that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.' You are now the blessed of Yahweh."
30 Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
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He made them a feast, and they ate and drink.
31 Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.
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They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, "We have found water."
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It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."
33 He named the well "Vow." That is how the city of Beersheba got its name.
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He called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittites, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon.
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When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.
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They grieved Isaac and Rebekah's spirits.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.