Isaac Lies to Abimelech

26 Once there was a famine.* This was like the famine that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar, to Abimelech the king of the Philistine people. ²The Lord spoke to Isaac. The Lord said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I commanded you to live in. ³Stay in that land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your family all these lands. I will do what I promised to Abraham your father. ⁴I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven. And I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants,* every nation on earth will be blessed. ⁵I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed my words and did the things I said. Abraham obeyed my commands, my laws, and my rules.” ⁶So Isaac stayed and lived in Gerar. ⁷Isaac’s wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about Rebekah. Isaac said, “She is my sister.” Isaac was afraid to tell them Rebekah was his wife. Isaac was afraid the men would kill him so that they could have her. ⁸After Isaac had lived there a long time, Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac and his wife playing. ⁹Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you tell us that she was your sister?” Isaac said to him, “I was afraid that you would kill me so you could have her.” ¹⁰Abimelech said, “You have done a bad thing to us. One of our men might have slept with your wife. Then he would be guilty of a great sin.” ¹¹So Abimelech gave a warning to all the people. He said, “No person must hurt this man or this woman. If any person hurts them, then that person will be killed.”

Isaac Becomes Rich

¹²Isaac planted fields in that place. And that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. ¹³Isaac became rich. He gathered more and more wealth until he became a very rich man. ¹⁴He had many flocks and herds of animals. He also had many slaves. All the Philistine people were jealous of him. ¹⁵So the Philistine people destroyed all the wells that Isaac’s father Abraham and his servants had dug many years before. The Philistines filled those wells with dirt. ¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are.” ¹⁷So Isaac left that place and camped near the little river of Gerar. Isaac stayed there and lived. ¹⁸Long before this time, Abraham had dug many wells. After Abraham died, the Philistines filled the wells with dirt. So Isaac went back and dug those wells again. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹Isaac’s servants also dug a well near the little river. A spring of water flowed from that well. ²⁰But the men who herded sheep in the Valley of Gerar argued with Isaac’s servants. They said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Esek.* He gave it that name because that was the place where those people argued with him. ²¹Then Isaac’s servants dug another well. The people of that place also argued because of that well. So Isaac named that well Sitnah.* ²²Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No men came to argue about that well. So Isaac named that well Rehoboth.* Isaac said, “Now the Lord has found a place for us. We will grow and be successful in this place.” ²³From that place Isaac went to Beersheba. ²⁴The Lord spoke to Isaac that night. The Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid. I am with you, and I will bless you. I will make your family great. I will do this because of my servant Abraham.” ²⁵So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord in that place. Isaac set up camp there and his servants dug a well. ²⁶Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. Abimelech brought with him Ahuzzath, his adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army. ²⁷Isaac asked, “Why have you come to see me? You were not friendly with me before. You even forced me to leave your country.” ²⁸They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. We think that we should make an agreement. We want you to make a promise to us. ²⁹We did not hurt you, now you should promise not to hurt us. We sent you away, but we sent you away in peace. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you.” ³⁰So Isaac gave a party for them. They all ate and drank. ³¹Early the next morning, each man made a promise and a vow.* Then the men left in peace. ³²On that day, Isaac’s servants came and told them about the well they had dug. The servants said, “We found water in that well.” ³³So Isaac named that well Shibah.* And that city is still called Beersheba.*

Esau’s Wives

³⁴When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith the daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath the daughter of Elon. ³⁵These marriages made Isaac and Rebekah very upset.

famine A time when there is no rain and no crops can grow. People and animals often die from lack of food and water. descendants Or “Descendant.” See Gal 3:16. Esek This means “argument” or “fight.” Sitnah This means “hatred” or “being an enemy.” Rehoboth This means “open place” or “crossroads.” vow A special promise to God. Shibah A Hebrew word meaning “seven” or “oath.” Beersheba This name means “well of the oath.”

Inheritance Problems

27 Isaac grew old, and his eyes became so weak he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him. Isaac said, “Son!” Esau answered, “Here I am.” ²Isaac said, “I am old. Maybe I will die soon! ³So take your bow and arrows and go hunting. Kill an animal for me to eat. ⁴Prepare the food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat it. Then I will bless you before I die.” ⁵So Esau went hunting.

Jacob Tricks Isaac

Rebekah was listening when Isaac told those things to his son Esau. ⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. ⁷Your father said, ‘Kill an animal for me to eat. Prepare the food for me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.’ ⁸So listen son, and do what I tell you. ⁹Go out to our goats and bring me two young goats. I will prepare them the way your father loves them. ¹⁰Then you will carry the food to your father. And he will bless you before he dies.” ¹¹But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him. ¹²If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse* me! Why? Because I tried to trick him.” ¹³So Rebekah said to him, “I will accept the blame if there is trouble. Do the things I said. Go and get the goats for me.” ¹⁴So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took the clothes that her older son Esau loved to wear. Rebekah put those clothes on the younger son Jacob. ¹⁶Rebekah took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. ¹⁷Then Rebekah got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob. ¹⁸Jacob went to his father and said, “Father.” His father said, “Yes, son. Who are you?” ¹⁹Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done the things you told me. Now sit up and eat the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me.” ²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?” Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly.” ²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, then I will know if you are really my son Esau.” ²²So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice. But your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau.” ²³Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ²⁴Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”

The Blessing for Jacob

²⁵Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate it. Then Jacob gave him some wine, and he drank it. ²⁶Then Isaac said to him. “Son, come near and kiss me.” ²⁷So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes and blessed him. Isaac said, “My son smells like the fields that the Lord has blessed. ²⁸May the Lord give you plenty of rain so you will have good crops and wine. ²⁹May all people serve you. May nations bow down to you. You will rule over your brothers. Your mother’s sons will bow down to you and obey you. Whoever curses* you will be cursed. Whoever blesses you will be blessed.”

Esau’s “Blessing”

³⁰Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. ³¹Esau prepared the food in the special way his father loved. Esau brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Father, I am your son. Get up and eat the meat that I killed {and cooked} for you. Then you can bless me.” ³²But Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son—your first son—Esau.” ³³Then Isaac became very worried and said, “Then who was it that cooked and brought me food before you came? I ate it all and I blessed him. Now it is too late to take back my blessing.” ³⁴Esau heard his father’s words. He became very angry and bitter. He cried out. He said to his father, “Then bless me also, father!” ³⁵Isaac said, “Your brother tricked me! He came and took your blessing!” ³⁶Esau said, “His name is Jacob (‘Tricky’). That is the right name for him. He has tricked me twice. He took away my rights as the firstborn son.* And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau said, “Have you saved any blessing for me?” ³⁷Isaac answered, “No, it’s too late. I gave Jacob the power to rule over you. And I said all his brothers will be his servants. And I have given him the blessing for much grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you son.” ³⁸But Esau continued to beg his father. “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me also, father!” Esau began to cry. ³⁹Then Isaac said to him, “You will not live on good land. And you will not have much rain. ⁴⁰You will have to fight to live. And you will be a slave to your brother. But you will fight to be free. You will break away from his control.” ⁴¹After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and there will be a time of sadness for him. But after that I will kill Jacob.” ⁴²Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. ⁴³So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. ⁴⁴Stay with him for a short time. Stay with him until your brother stops being angry. ⁴⁵After a short time, your brother will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons in the same day.” ⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about these women. Why? Because they are not our people. I’ll just die if Jacob marries one of these women too!”

curse To ask for bad things to happen to a thing or person. rights as the firstborn son Usually, after the father died, the firstborn son got half of the father’s property and became the new head of the family.