Genesis 26

1 Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.

And the Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do not go down to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you knowledge:

3 Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, giving effect to the oath which I made to your father Abraham;

4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,

I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and will give them all these lands, and your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth;

5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my orders, and my laws.

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

7 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

And when he was questioned by the men of the place about his wife, he said, She is my sister; fearing to say, She is my wife; for, he said, the men of the place may put me to death on account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.

8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife.

9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why then did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear that I might be put to death because of her.

10 “What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

Then Abimelech said, What have you done to us? one of the people might well have had connection with your wife, and the sin would have been ours.

11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

And Abimelech gave orders to his people that anyone touching Isaac or his wife was to be put to death.

12 Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him.

13 and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.

And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more;

14 He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.

15 So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the Philistines.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”

And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are stronger than we are.

17 So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.

19 Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water.

20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a fight about it.

21 Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah.

22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will have fruit in this land.

23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 and 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 multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you, blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant Abraham.

25 So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a water-hole.

26 Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol, the captain of his army.

27 “Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.”

And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me away from you?

28 “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make an agreement with you;

29 that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

That you will do us no damage, even as we put no hand on you, and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace: and now the blessing of the Lord is on you.

30 So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

31 And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.

32 On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him.

And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have come to water.

33 So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.

And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that town is Beer-sheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

And when Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of mind because of them.