28 S Genesis 26:15
and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 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.
16 Then Abimelek said to I saac, “Move away from us; you have become too
powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar,
where he settled. 18 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.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of f resh water
there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The
water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, a because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he
named it Sitnah. b 22 He m
oved on from t here and dug another well, and no
one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, c saying, “Now the Lord has giv
en us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 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.”
25 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.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his
personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them,
“Why have you come to me, s ince you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said,
‘There o
ught to be a s worn agreement between us’ — between us and you. Let
us make a treaty with you 29 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.”
30 Isaac then made a f east for them, and they ate and d
rank. 31 Early the next
morning the men s wore an oath to each other. Then I saac sent them on t heir
way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day I saac’s servants came and told him a
bout the well they had dug.
They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, d and to this day the
name of the town has been Beersheba. e
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the
Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source
of grief to I saac and Rebekah.
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer
see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and d
on’t know the day of my d
eath. 3 Now
then, get your equipment — your quiver and bow — and go out to the open
country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I
like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left
for the open country to hunt game and b
ring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son
Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some
game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my bless
ing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and
do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the f lock and b
ring me two c hoice young g
oats,
so I can prepare some t asty food for your father, just the way he l ikes it. 10 Then
take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a h
airy man
27
a 20
Esek means dispute. b 21 Sitnah means opposition. c 22 Rehoboth means room.
Shibah can mean oath or seven. e 33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well
of seven.
d 33