Genesis 26

1 Then, when a famine arose over the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, in Gerar.

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.

2 And the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “Do not descend into Egypt, but rest in the land that I will tell you,

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

3 and sojourn in it, and I will be with you, and I will bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give all these regions, completing the oath that I promised to Abraham your father.

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.

4 And I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And I will give to your posterity all these regions. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,

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.

5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed the ceremonies and the laws.”

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

6 And so Isaac remained in Gerar.

And Isaac lived in Gerara.

7 And when he was questioned by the men of that place about his wife, he answered, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to confess her to be his mate, thinking that perhaps they would put him to death because of her beauty.

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.

8 And when very many days had passed, and he had remained in the same place, Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, gazing through a window, saw him being playful with Rebekah, his wife.

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.

9 And summoning him, he said: “It is clear that she is your wife. Why did you falsely claim her to be your sister?” He answered, “I was afraid, lest I might die because of her.”

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.

10 And Abimelech said: “Why have you burdened us? Someone from the people could have lain with your wife, and you would have brought a great sin upon us.” And he instructed all the people, saying,

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.

11 “Whoever will touch the wife of this man will die a death.”

And Abimelech charged all his people, saying Every man that touches this man and his wife shall be liable to death.

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and he found, in that same year, one hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him.

And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found in that year barley and hundred-fold, and the Lord blessed him.

13 And the man was enriched, and he continued prospering as well as increasing, until he became very great.

And the man was exalted, and advancing he increased, till he became very great.

14 Likewise, he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very large family. Because of this, the Palestinians envied him,

And he had cattle of sheep, and cattle of oxen, and many tilled lands, and the Phylistines envied him.

15 so, at that time, they obstructed all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug, filling them with soil.

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.

16 It reached a point where Abimelech himself said to Isaac, “Move away from us, for you have become very much more powerful than we.”

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

17 And departing, he then went toward the torrent of Gerar, and he dwelt there.

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

18 Again, he dug up other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had dug, and which, after his death, the Philistines had formerly obstructed. And he called them by the same names that his father had called them before.

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.

19 And they dug in the torrent, and they found living water.

And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley of Gerara, and they found there a well of living water.

20 But in that place also the shepherds of Gerar argued against the shepherds of Isaac, by saying, “It is our water.” For this reason, he called the name of the well, because of what had happened, ‘Calumny.’

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.

21 Then they dug up yet another one. And over that one also they fought, and he called it, ‘Enmity.’

And having departed thence he dug another well, and they strove also for that; and he named the name of it, Enmity.

22 Advancing from there, he dug another well, over which they did not contend. And so he called its name, ‘Latitude,’ saying, “Now the Lord has expanded us and caused us to increase across the land.”

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.

23 Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

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

24 where the Lord appeared to him on the same night, saying: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

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.

25 And so he built an altar there. And he invoked the name of the Lord, and he stretched out his tent. And he instructed his servants to dig a well.

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.

26 When Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the leader of the military, had arrived from Gerar to that place,

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

27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, a man whom you hate, and whom you have expelled from among you?”

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

28 And they responded: “We saw that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us initiate a pact,

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,

29 so that you may not do us any kind of harm, just as we have touched nothing of yours, and have not caused any injury to you, but with peace we released you, augmented by the blessing of the Lord.”

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.

30 Therefore, he made them a feast, and after the food and drink,

And he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31 arising in the morning, they swore to one another. And Isaac sent them away peacefully to their own place.

And they arose in the morning, and swore each to his neighbour; and Isaac sent them forth, and they departed from him in safety.

32 Then, behold, on the same day the servants of Isaac came, reporting to him about a well which they had dug, and saying: “We have found water.”

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.

33 Therefore, he called it, ‘Abundance.’ And the name of the city was established as ‘Beersheba,’ even to the present day.

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

34 In truth, at forty years of age, Esau took wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.

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.

35 And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.

And they were provoking to Isaac and Rebecca.