Genesis 26

1 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.

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

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 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;

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

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

6 And Isaac dwells in Gerar;

And Isaac lived in Gerara.

7 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.”

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 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.

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 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.”

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 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”;

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

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

12 And Isaac sows in that land, and finds in that year a hundredfold, and YHWH blesses 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 is great, and goes on, going on and becoming great, until he has been very great,

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

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

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

15 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.

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

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

17 and Isaac goes from there, and encamps in the Valley of Gerar, and dwells there;

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

18 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.

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 Isaac’s servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water,

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

20 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;

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

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

22 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.”

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 And he goes up from there [to] Beer-Sheba,

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

24 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”;

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 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.

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

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

27 and Isaac says to them, “Why have you come to me, and you have hated me, and you send me away from 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 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;

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 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.”

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 And he makes a banquet for them, and they eat and drink,

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

31 and rise early in the morning, and swear to one another, and Isaac sends them away, and they go from him in peace.

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 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”;

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 and he calls it Shebah, [oath, ] therefore the name of the city [is] Beer-Sheba, [Well of the Oath, ] to this day.

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

34 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,

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 are a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

And they were provoking to Isaac and Rebecca.