Nanirahan si Isaac sa Gerar
1Dumating ang taggutom sa lugar na tinitirhan ni Isaac, bukod pa ito sa taggutom na nangyari noong panahon ni Abraham. Kaya pumunta si Isaac kay Abimelec na hari ng mga Filisteo sa Gerar. 2Nagpakita sa kanya ang Panginoon at sinabi, “Huwag kang pupunta sa Egipto, manatili ka sa lugar na ituturo ko sa iyo. 3Dito ka lang muna manirahan dahil sasamahan kita at pagpapalain. Ibibigay ko sa iyo at sa mga lahi mo ang lahat ng lupaing ito. Tutuparin ko ang ipinangako ko sa iyong amang si Abraham. 4Pararamihin ko ang mga lahi mo na kasindami ng mga bituin sa langit, at ibibigay ko sa kanila ang lahat ng lupaing ito. At sa pamamagitan nila, pagpapalain ko ang lahat ng tao sa mundo. 5Gagawin ko ito dahil sumunod si Abraham sa akin, tinupad niya ang lahat ng aking kautusan at katuruan.” 6Kaya roon nanirahan si Isaac sa Gerar.
7Kapag may nagtatanong kay Isaac na taga-Gerar tungkol sa kanyang asawa, sinasabi niyang kapatid niya si Rebeka. Maganda si Rebeka, kaya natatakot siyang sabihing asawa niya ito dahil baka siyaʼy patayin nila para makuha si Rebeka.
8Matagal-tagal na ang pananatili nina Isaac doon sa Gerar. At isang araw, nagkataon na dumungaw sa bintana si Abimelec na hari ng mga Filisteo at nakita niyang naglalambingan sina Isaac at Rebeka. 9Kaya ipinatawag niya si Isaac at sinabi, “Asawa mo pala siya? Bakit sinabi mo na kapatid mo siya?”
Sumagot si Isaac, “Natatakot po kasi ako na baka patayin ninyo ako dahil sa kanya.”
10Sinabi ni Abimelec, “Hindi mabuti ang ginawa mo sa amin. Kung nangyaring ang isa sa tauhan koʼy sumiping sa kanya, ikaw ang magiging dahilan ng pagkakasala namin.”
11Binalaan agad ni Abimelec ang lahat ng tao. Sinabi niya, “Ang sinumang gagawa ng masama sa lalaking ito o sa asawa niya ay papatayin.”
12Nang taon ding iyon nagtanim si Isaac sa lugar na iyon at masaganang-masagana ang kanyang ani, dahil pinagpala siya ng Panginoon. 13Nagpatuloy ang pag-unlad niya hanggang sa yumaman siya nang husto. 14Nainggit sa kanya ang mga Filisteo dahil marami na ang kanyang tupa, kambing, baka at alipin. 15Sa inggit nila kay Isaac, tinabunan nila ng lupa ang mga balon na hinukay noon ng mga alipin ng ama niyang si Abraham.
16Ngayon, sinabi ni Abimelec kay Isaac, “Umalis ka na rito, dahil mas makapangyarihan ka na kaysa sa amin.”
17Kaya umalis si Isaac, at nagpatayo ng tolda niya sa Lambak ng Gerar at doon na nanirahan. 18Ipinahukay niyang muli ang mga balon ng ama niyang si Abraham dahil tinabunan ito ng mga Filisteo nang mamatay si Abraham. Pinangalanan ni Isaac ang mga balon ng dati ring pangalan na ibinigay noon ni Abraham.
19Doon sa lambak, naghukay ng bagong balon ang mga alipin ni Isaac at nakatagpo sila ng bukal. 20Pero nakipagtalo ang mga pastol na taga-Gerar at mga pastol ni Isaac na kanila raw ang balon na iyon. Kaya pinangalanan ni Isaac ang balon na Esek,26:20 Esek: Ang ibig sabihin, pakikipagtalo. dahil nakipagtalo ang mga taga-Gerar sa kanya.
21Muling naghukay ang mga alipin ni Isaac ng ibang balon, pero pinag-awayan din nila ito ng mga taga-Gerar. Kaya pinangalanan ni Isaac ang balon na Sitna.26:21 Sitna: Ang ibig sabihin, pag-aaway. 22Umalis sina Isaac doon at muling naghukay ng panibagong balon. Hindi na nila ito pinag-awayan, kaya pinangalanan ito ni Isaac na Rehobot.26:22 Rehobot: Ang ibig sabihin, malawak na lugar. Sapagkat sinabi niya, “Ngayoʼy binigyan tayo ng Panginoon ng malawak na lugar para lalo pa tayong dumami sa lugar na ito.”
23Hindi nagtagal, umalis si Isaac sa lugar na iyon at pumunta sa Beersheba. 24Nang gabing dumating siya, nagpakita sa kanya ang Panginoon at sinabi, “Ako ang Dios ng iyong ama na si Abraham. Huwag kang matakot dahil kasama mo ako. Pagpapalain kita at bibigyan ng maraming lahi dahil kay Abraham na aking lingkod.” 25Kaya gumawa ng altar si Isaac at sumamba sa Panginoon. Nagpatayo siya ng tolda sa lugar na iyon at nagpahukay ng balon sa kanyang mga alipin.
Ang Kasunduan nina Isaac at Abimelec
26Pumunta si Abimelec kay Isaac mula sa Gerar kasama si Ahuzat na tagapayo niya at si Picol na pinuno ng kanyang mga sundalo. 27Nagtanong si Isaac sa kanila, “Bakit kayo pumunta rito? Hindi baʼt galit kayo sa akin kaya pinaalis nʼyo ako sa lugar ninyo?”
28Sumagot sila, “Napatunayan namin na ang Panginoon ay kasama mo, kaya naisip namin na dapat tayong gumawa ng kasunduan na may panata. Ipangako mo sa amin 29na hindi mo kami gagawan ng masama, dahil hindi ka rin namin ginawan ng masama nang naroon ka pa sa amin. Inaruga ka namin nang mabuti at pinaalis ka namin nang matiwasay. Ngayon, nawaʼy pagpalain ka pa ng Panginoon.”
30Kaya nagpahanda si Isaac para sa kanila at nagsikain sila at nag-inuman.
31Kinabukasan, maaga silang nanumpa sa isaʼt isa. Pagkatapos, naghiwalay sila nang matiwasay.
32Sa araw ding iyon, dumating ang mga alipin ni Isaac at ibinalita sa kanya na may tubig ang balong hinukay nila. 33Pinangalanan ni Isaac ang balon na iyon na Shiba. Kaya hanggang ngayon, ang lugar na iyon ay tinatawag na Beersheba.26:33 Beersheba: Tingnan ang “footnote” sa 21:31.
Nag-asawa si Esau ng Hindi Nila Kalahi
34Nang 40 taong gulang na si Esau, napangasawa niya si Judit na anak ni Beeri na Heteo. Naging asawa rin niya si Basemat na anak ni Elon na Heteo rin. 35Ang dalawang babaeng ito ay nagbigay ng kalungkutan kina Isaac at Rebeka.
Isaac and Abimelek
1Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring26:4 Or seed all nations on earth will be blessed,26:4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) 5because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15So 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.
16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18Isaac 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.
19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek,26:20 Esek means dispute. because they disputed with him. 21Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.26:21 Sitnah means opposition. 22He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,26:22 Rehoboth means room. saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24That 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.”
25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29that 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.”
30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33He called it Shibah,26:33 Shibah can mean oath or seven. and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.26:33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
