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.
Isaki Na Abimeleki
126:1 Mwa 12:10; 20:1Basi njaa kubwa ikawa katika nchi hiyo, kuliko ile njaa iliyotangulia iliyotokea wakati wa Abrahamu. Isaki akamwendea Abimeleki mfalme wa Wafilisti huko Gerari. 226:2 Mwa 12:1, 7; 46:3Bwana akamtokea Isaki, akamwambia, “Usiende Misri, bali ukae katika nchi nitakayokuambia. 326:3 Kut 3:12; Mwa 12:2, 7Kaa katika nchi hii kwa kitambo, mimi nitakuwa pamoja na wewe na nitakubariki. Kwa maana nitakupa wewe na uzao wako nchi hizi zote na nitatimiza kiapo nilichomwapia Abrahamu baba yako. 426:4 Mwa 26:24; 48:4; 12:2Nitafanya wazao wako kuwa wengi kama nyota za angani, nami nitawapa nchi hizi zote na kutokana na uzao wako mataifa yote yatabarikiwa, 526:5 Mwa 18:19; Za 119:80, 112; Eze 18:21kwa sababu Abrahamu alinitii mimi akatunza kanuni zangu na maagizo yangu, amri zangu pamoja na sheria zangu.” 626:6 Mwa 20:1Hivyo Isaki akaishi huko Gerari.
726:7 Mwa 12:13Watu wa mahali pale walipomuuliza habari za mke wake, akasema, “Huyu ni dada yangu,” kwa sababu aliogopa kusema, “Huyu ni mke wangu.” Alifikiri, “Watu wa mahali pale wataweza kumuua kwa sababu ya Rebeka, kwa kuwa alikuwa mzuri wa sura.”
8Wakati Isaki alipokuwa amekaa huko siku nyingi, Abimeleki mfalme wa Wafilisti akachungulia dirishani, akaona jinsi Isaki alivyomkumbatia Rebeka mke wake. 9Abimeleki akamwita Isaki akamwambia, “Hakika huyu ni mke wako! Mbona uliniambia, ‘Huyu ni dada yangu?’ ”
Isaki akamjibu, “Kwa sababu nilifikiri ningeweza kuuawa kwa sababu yake.”
1026:10 Mwa 12:8Ndipo Abimeleki akamjibu, “Ni nini hiki ulichotufanyia? Ingewezekana mtu yeyote akawa amekutana kimwili na mke wako, nawe ungeleta hatia juu yetu.”
1126:11 1Sam 24:6; 26:9; Za 105:15Hivyo Abimeleki akatoa amri kwa watu wote, akisema, “Yeyote atakayemnyanyasa mtu huyu au mkewe hakika atauawa.”
1226:12 Mt 13:8; Mwa 26:3Isaki akapanda mazao katika nchi hiyo, kwa mwaka huo huo, akavuna mara mia, kwa sababu Bwana alimbariki. 1326:13 Mwa 13:2; Kum 8:18Isaki akawa tajiri, mali zake zikaendelea kuongezeka mpaka akawa tajiri sana. 1426:14 Mwa 12:16; 24:36Akawa na mifugo ya kondoo na ngʼombe, na watumishi wengi sana, kiasi kwamba Wafilisti wakamwonea wivu. 1526:15 Mwa 21:30; 21:25Kwa hiyo visima vyote vilivyochimbwa na watumishi wakati wa Abrahamu baba yake, Wafilisti wakavifukia, wakavijaza udongo.
16Ndipo Abimeleki akamwambia Isaki, “Ondoka kwetu, kwa maana umetuzidi nguvu sana.”
17Basi Isaki akatoka huko akajenga kambi katika Bonde la Gerari, akaishi huko. 18Ndipo Isaki akavichimbua tena vile visima vya maji ambavyo vilichimbwa siku zile za Abrahamu baba yake, ambavyo Wafilisti walivifukia baada ya kufa Abrahamu, akavipa majina yale yale ambayo baba yake alikuwa amevipa.
19Watumishi wa Isaki wakachimba katika lile bonde wakagundua huko kisima chenye maji safi. 20Lakini wachungaji wa Gerari wakagombana na wachungaji wa Isaki wakisema, “Maji haya ni yetu!” Ndipo akakiita kile kisima Eseki,26:20 Eseki maana yake ni Ugomvi. kwa sababu waligombana naye. 21Kisha wakachimba kisima kingine, lakini hata hicho pia wakakigombania, akakiita Sitna.26:21 Sitna maana yake Upinzani. 2226:22 Kut 18:19; Mwa 17:6Akaondoka huko, akachimba kisima kingine, wala hakuna yeyote aliyekigombania. Akakiita Rehobothi,26:22 Rehobothi maana yake ni Mungu ametufanyia nafasi. akisema, “Sasa Bwana ametufanyia nafasi, nasi tutastawi katika nchi.”
23Kutoka pale akaenda Beer-Sheba. 2426:24 Mwa 24:12; 17:7Usiku ule Bwana akamtokea, akamwambia, “Mimi ndimi Mungu wa Abrahamu baba yako. Usiogope, kwa maana mimi niko pamoja nawe, nitakubariki na kuongeza idadi ya wazao wako kwa ajili ya Abrahamu mtumishi wangu.”
25Isaki akajenga madhabahu huko, akaliitia jina la Bwana. Akapiga hema lake huko, nao watumishi wake wakachimba kisima.
2626:26 Mwa 21:22Wakati huo, Abimeleki alikuwa amemjia kutoka Gerari, akifuatana na Ahuzathi mshauri wake, pamoja na Fikoli jemadari wa majeshi yake. 27Isaki akawauliza, “Mbona mmekuja kwangu na ninyi mlinichukia na kunifukuza?”
2826:28 Mwa 21:22Wakamjibu, “Tuliona wazi kuwa Bwana alikuwa pamoja nawe, kwa hiyo tukasema, ‘Inabidi kuwe na kiapo cha mapatano kati yetu, kati yetu na wewe. Na tufanye mkataba pamoja nawe 2926:29 Mwa 31:29, 52; 24:31kwamba hutatudhuru, kama jinsi nasi hatukuwanyanyasa bali tuliwatendea mema wakati wote na kuwaondoa kwetu kwa amani. Tena sasa umebarikiwa na Bwana.’ ”
3026:30 Mwa 31:54; Kut 18:12Basi Isaki akawaandalia karamu, nao wakala na kunywa. 3126:31 Mwa 21:23, 27Kesho yake asubuhi na mapema, wakaapizana wao kwa wao. Kisha Isaki akawaruhusu waende zao, wakamwacha Isaki kwa amani.
3226:32 Mwa 21:30Siku hiyo watumishi wa Isaki wakaja wakampa habari kuhusu kisima walichokuwa wamekichimba, wakamwambia, “Tumepata maji!” 3326:33 Mwa 21:14Naye akakiita Shiba,26:33 Shiba kwa Kiebrania maana yake ni Saba. mpaka leo mji huo unaitwa Beer-Sheba.26:33 Beer-Sheba maana yake ni Kisima cha wale saba, yaani wale kondoo saba ambao Abrahamu aliwatoa kama ushahidi kati yake na Abimeleki.
3426:34 Mwa 36:2Esau alipokuwa na umri wa miaka arobaini, akamwoa Yudithi binti Beeri Mhiti, kisha akamwoa Basemathi binti Eloni Mhiti. 3526:35 Mwa 27:46; Ay 7:16Hawa walikuwa chanzo cha huzuni ya Isaki na Rebeka.
