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.

And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

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 appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

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.

And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

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,

And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

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

Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

So Isaac abode in Gerara.

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 asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.

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 very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca 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 calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

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.”

And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

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

He that shall touch this man’s wife, shall surely 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,

And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

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

And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

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

And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

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.

Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

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

Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

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

So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell 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 digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

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

And they digged in the torrent, and found living 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 there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

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

And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

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.”

Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

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.”

Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

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.

And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

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

To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

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

Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out 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 answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

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 thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

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

And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

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.

Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

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 behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

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

Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even 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 Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.