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 came to be a famine in the land, besides the first famine which happened in the days of Abraham, —so Isaac went his way unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines towards Gerar;

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 Yahweh appeared unto him, and said, do not go down towards Egypt, —Make thy habitation in the land, which I may name unto thee:

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.

Sojourn in this land, that I may be with thee and bless thee, —for, to thee, and to thy seed, will I give all these lands, So will I establish the oath which I sware to Abraham thy father;

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 will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and will give to thy seed, all these lands, —And all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves in thy seed:

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

Because that Abraham hearkened unto my voice, —and so kept my charge, my commandments my statutes and my laws.

6 And so Isaac remained in Gerar.

So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

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.

Then asked the men of the place as to his wife, and he said, My sister, is she, —For he feared to say My wife, lest [said he] the men of the place should slay me on account of Rebekah, for fair to look on, she is.

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 it came to pass when the days had lengthened out to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines, looked out through the lattice of a window, —and he beheld and lo! Isaac—laughing with Rebekah 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.”

So Abimelech called for Isaac, and said, But lo she is, thy wife! How then, saidst thou, She is, my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because, I said, Lest 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,

Then, said, Abimelech, What is this thou hast done to us? A little more, and one of the people might have lien with thy wife, so shouldst thou have brought upon us, guilt.

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

And Abimelech commanded all the people saying, —He that toucheth this man or his wife, shall surely be put 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 found in the same year, a hundredfold, —seeing that Yahweh had blessed him.

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

So the man waxed great, —and went on and on waxing great until that he had waxed exceeding great.

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

So he came to have possessions of flocks and possessions of herds, and a large body of servants, —and the Philistines 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 as for all the wells which the servants of his father digged, in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up, and filled them with dust.

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 unto Isaac, —Get thee from us, for thou hast become far mightier than we.

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

So Isaac went from thence, —and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt 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 again digged the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines stopped up after the death of Abraham, —and he called their names, after the names which his father called them.

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

And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, —and 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 herdmen of Gerar disputed with the herdmen of Isaac saying, Ours, is the, water! So he called the name of the well Esek, because they had stirred up a quarrel with him.

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

And they digged another well, and they disputed over that also, —so he called the name thereof Sitnah.

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 moved on from thence and digged another well, and they disputed not for it, —so he called the name thereof. Rehoboth, and said, For, now, hath Yahweh made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23 Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

And he went up from thence, to Beer-sheba.

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 Yahweh appeared unto him the same night, and said, I, am the God of Abraham thy father, —Do not fear for with thee, am, I, And I will bless thee and multiply thy seed, For the sake of Abraham my servant.

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.

So he builded there all altar and called on the name of Yahweh, and spread out there, his tent, —and the servants of Isaac cut out there a well.

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

And, Abimelech, came unto him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol, commander of his host.

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 unto them, Wherefore have ye come in mite me, seeing that, ye, 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, saw plainly, that Yahweh was with thee, so we said, Let there be we pray thee an oath betwixt us both, betwixt us and thee, —and let us solemnise a covenant with thee: —

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, thou wilt not do wrong by us, according as we touched not thee, and according as we did by thee nothing but good, and then sent thee away in peace, thee who, now, art blessed of Yahweh!

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

So he made for them a banquet, and they did eat and drink, —

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

and rose up early in the morning, and took an oath each man to his brother, so Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

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, on the same day, that the servants of Isaac came in, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said to him, We have found water!

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

So he called it, Shibah. For this cause, hath the name of the city, been Beer-sheba, unto 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 when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, daughter of Beeri. the Hittite; and Basemath, daughter of Elon, the Hittite;

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

and they became a bitterness of spirit, to Isaac and to Rebekah.