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 there is a famine in the land, besides the first famine which was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac goes to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

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

And YHWH appears to him and says, “Do not go down toward Egypt, dwell in the land concerning which I speak to you,

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.

sojourn in this land, and I am with you, and bless you, for to you and to your seed I give all these lands, and I have established the oath which I have sworn 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,

and I have multiplied your seed as stars of the heavens, and I have given to your seed all these lands; and all nations of the earth have blessed themselves in your Seed;

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

because that Abraham has listened to My voice, and keeps My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.”

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

And Isaac dwells 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 men of the place ask him of his wife, and he says, “She [is] my sister”: for he has been afraid to say, “My wife—lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, for she [is] of good appearance.”

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 it comes to pass, when the days have been prolonged to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looks through the window, and sees, and behold, Isaac is playing with his wife Rebekah.

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 Abimelech calls for Isaac and says, “Behold, she [is] surely your wife; and how could you have said, She [is] my sister?” And Isaac says to him, “Because I said, Lest I die for 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.”

And Abimelech says, “What [is] this you have done to us? As a little thing one of the people had lain with your wife, and you had brought on us guilt”;

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

and Abimelech commands all the people, saying, “He who comes against this man or against his wife, dying does die.”

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

And Isaac sows in that land, and finds in that year a hundredfold, and YHWH blesses him;

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

and the man is great, and goes on, going on and becoming great, until he has been very great,

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

and he has possession of a flock, and possession of a herd, and an abundant service; and the Philistines envy 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.

and all the wells which his father’s servants dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust.

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

And Abimelech says to Isaac, “Go from us; for you have become much mightier than we”;

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

and Isaac goes from there, and encamps in the Valley of Gerar, and dwells 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 Isaac turns back, and digs the wells of water which they dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines have stopped after the death of Abraham, and he calls to them names according to the names which his father called them.

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

And Isaac’s servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of 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.

and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, “The water [is] ours”; and he calls the name of the well “Strife,” because they have striven habitually with him;

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

and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calls its name “Hatred.”

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.”

And he removes from there, and digs another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calls its name “Enlargements,” and says, “For—now has YHWH given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.”

23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

And he goes up from there [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.”

and YHWH appears to him during that night and says, “I [am] the God of your father Abraham, do not fear, for I [am] with you, and have blessed you, and have multiplied your seed, 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.

and he builds there an altar, and preaches in the Name of YHWH, and stretches out there his tent, and there Isaac’s servants dig a well.

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

And Abimelech has gone to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol head of his host;

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

and Isaac says to them, “Why have you come to me, and you have hated me, and you send 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 say, “We have certainly seen that YHWH has been with you, and we say, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us make a covenant 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.”

do no evil with us, as we have not touched you, and as we have only done good with you, and send you away in peace; you [are] now blessed of YHWH.”

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

And he makes a banquet for them, and they eat 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 rise early in the morning, and swear to one another, and Isaac sends them away, and they go from him 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 it comes to pass during that day that Isaac’s servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have dug, and say to him, “We have found water”;

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

and he calls it Shebah, [oath, ] therefore the name of the city [is] Beer-Sheba, [Well of the Oath, ] 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 is a son of forty years, and he takes a wife, Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite,

35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

and they are a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.