Genesis 26

1 And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine, which was in the time of Abraam; and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Phylistines to Gerara.

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 And the Lord appeared to him and said, Go not down to Egypt, but dwell in the land, which I shall tell you of.

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 And sojourn in this land; and I will be with you, and bless you, for I will give to you and to your seed all this land; and I will establish my oath which I swore to your father Abraam.

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 And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and I will give to your seed all this land, and all the nations of the earth shall be blest in your seed.

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 Abraam your father listened to my voice, and kept my injunctions, and my commandments, and my ordinances, and my statutes.

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

6 And Isaac lived in Gerara.

So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

7 And the men of the place questioned him concerning Rebecca his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for he feared to say, She is my wife, lest at any time the men of the place should kill him because of Rebecca, because she was fair.

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 And he remained there a long time, and Abimelech the king of Gerara leaned to look through the window, and saw Isaac sporting with Rebecca his wife.

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 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said to him, Is she then your wife? why have you said, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, [I did so], for I said, Lest at any time I die on her account.

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 And Abimelech said to him, Why have you done this to us? one of my kindred within a little had lain with your wife, and you would have brought [a sin of] ignorance 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 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying Every man that touches this man and his wife shall be liable to death.

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

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found in that year barley and hundred-fold, 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 the man was exalted, and advancing he increased, till he became very great.

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

14 And he had cattle of sheep, and cattle of oxen, and many tilled lands, and the Phylistines 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 And all the wells which the servants of his father had dug in the time of his father, the Phylistines stopped them, and filled them with earth.

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 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Depart from us, for you are become much mightier than we.

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

17 And Isaac departed thence, and rested in the valley of Gerara, and lived there.

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

18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which the servants of his father Abraam had dug, and the Phylistines had stopped them, after the death of his father Abraam; and he gave them names, according to the names by which his father named 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 And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley of Gerara, and they found there a well of living water.

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

20 And the shepherds of Gerara strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying that the water was theirs; and they called the name of the well, Injury, for they injured 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 And having departed thence he dug another well, and they strove also for that; and he named the name of it, Enmity.

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

22 And he departed thence and dug another well; and they did not strive about that; and he named the name of it, Room, saying, Because now the Lord has made room for us, and has increased us upon the earth.

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 And he went up thence to the well of the oath.

And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 And the Lord appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraam your father; fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you, and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraam your father.

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 And he built there an altar, and called on the name of the Lord, and there he pitched his tent, and there the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley of Gerara.

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 And Abimelech came to him from Gerara, and so did Ochozath his friend, and Phichol the commander-in-chief of his army.

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

27 And Isaac said to them, Therefore have you come to me? whereas you hated me, and sent me away from you.

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 And they said, We have surely seen that the Lord was with you, and we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and we will 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 shall do no wrong by us, as we have not abhorred you, and according as we have treated you well, and have sent you forth peaceably; and now you are blessed of 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 And he made 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 arose in the morning, and swore each to his neighbour; and Isaac sent them forth, and they departed from him in safety.

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 And it came to pass in that day, that the servants of Isaac came and told him of the well which they had dug; and they said, We have not found water.

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 And he called it, Oath: therefore he called the name of that city, the Well of Oath, until this day.

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

34 And Esau was forty years old; and he took as wife Judith the daughter of Beoch the Chettite, and Basemath, daughter of Helon the Chettite.

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 were provoking to Isaac and Rebecca.

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