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.

There was a famine in the country—not the one that happened before in Abraham's time, but a later one. So Isaac moved to Gerar in the territory of Abimelech, king of the Philistines.

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

The Lord appeared to Isaac and told him, “Don't go to Egypt—live in the country that I tell you to.

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;

Stay here in this country. I will be with you and I will bless you, because I'm going to give you and your descendants all these lands. I will keep the solemn promise that I swore to Abraham your father.

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;

I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your descendants,

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

because Abraham did what I told him, and kept my requirements, my commands, my regulations, and my laws.”

6 And Isaac dwells in Gerar;

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

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.”

When the men there asked him about his wife, he told them, “She's my sister,” because he was afraid. He said to himself, “If I say she's my wife, the men here will kill me to get Rebekah, because she's so beautiful.”

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.

But later on, after he'd been there a while, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, happened to look out the window and saw Isaac lovingly fondling his wife Rebekah.

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.”

Abimelech sent for Isaac and complained. “From what I saw she's clearly your wife!” he said. “Why on earth did you say, ‘She's my sister’?” “Because I thought I'd be killed because of her,” Isaac replied.

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”;

“Why would you do this to us?” Abimelech asked. “One of the men here might have slept with your wife, and you would have made us all guilty!”

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

Abimelech issued orders to all the people, warning them, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be executed.”

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

Isaac sowed grain that year, and the Lord blessed him with a harvest that was a hundred times what he planted.

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

He became a rich man, and his wealth steadily increased until he was very rich.

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

He owned many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, as well as many slaves. He had so much that the Philistines became jealous of 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.

So the Philistines used dirt to block up all the wells his father Abraham's servants had dug.

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

Then Abimelech told Isaac, “You have to leave our country, because you've become much too powerful for us.”

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

So Isaac moved away and set up his tents in the Gerar Valley where he settled down.

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.

He unblocked the wells that had been dug in his father Abraham's time—the ones the Philistines had blocked after the death of Abraham. He gave them the same names his father had.

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

Isaac's servants also dug a new well in the valley and found spring 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;

But the herdsmen from Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, claiming, “That's our water!” So Isaac named the well, “Argument,” because they argued with him.

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

He had another well dug, and they argued over that one too. He named the well, “Opposition.”

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.”

So they moved on from there and he had another well dug. This time there was no argument so he named the well, “Freedom,” saying, “Now the Lord has given us freedom to expand and be successful in this land.”

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

From there he moved on to Beersheba.

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”;

That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

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.

Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord. He also set up his tent, and his servants dug a well there.

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

Sometime later Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac, along with Ahuzzath his advisor, and Phicol the commander 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?”

“Why have you come to see me?” Isaac asked them. “Previously you hated me and told me to leave!”

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;

“Now we realize that the Lord is with you,” they replied. “So we agreed that we should make a sworn agreement 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.”

You'll promise not to harm us in the same way we've never hurt you. You'll agree that we've always treated you well, and when we asked you to leave we did so kindly. Now look at how the Lord is blessing you!”

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

So Isaac had a special meal prepared to celebrate the agreement. 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 got up early in the morning and they each swore oaths to one other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left in peace.

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”;

It was that very day when Isaac's servants who'd been digging a well came and told him, “We've 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.

So Isaac named the well, “Oath,” and that's why the name of the town is “Well of the Oath” (Beersheba) to 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,

When Esau was 40, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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

They caused Isaac and Rebekah a great deal of grief.