Genesis 26

1 Now a famine happened in the land, besides the first famine that had been in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines at Gerar.

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 Now Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land that I tell you to live in.

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 Stay in this very land, and I will be with you and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants, I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

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 I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

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 I will do this because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my instructions, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

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

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” He feared to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

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 After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out of a window. He saw, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, 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 Abimelech called Isaac to him and said, “Look, certainly she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.”

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 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt 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 So Abimelech warned all the people and said, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

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

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, because Yahweh 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 The man became rich, and grew more and more until he became very great.

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

14 He had many sheep and cattle, and a large household. The Philistines 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 Now all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up by filling 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 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

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

17 So Isaac departed from there and settled in the Valley of Gerar, 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 Once again Isaac dug out the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. The Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham's death. Isaac called the wells by the same names that his father had called 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 When Isaac's servants dug in the valley, they found there a well of flowing water.

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

20 The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, and said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac called that well “Esek,” because they had quarreled with 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 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that, too, so he gave it the name of “Sitnah.”

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

22 He left there and dug yet another well, but they did not quarrel over that one. So he called it Rehoboth, and he said, “Now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

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 Then Isaac went up from there to Beersheba.

And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 Yahweh appeared to him that same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants, for my servant Abraham's sake.”

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 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and his servants dug a well.

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 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the captain of his army.

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

27 Isaac said to them, “Why are you coming to me, since you hate me and have 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 Then they said, “We have clearly seen that Yahweh has been with you. So we decided that there should be an oath between us, yes, between us and you. So let us 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 will do us no harm, just as we have not harmed you, and as we have treated you well and have sent you away in peace. Indeed, you are blessed by Yahweh.”

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 So Isaac 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 They rose early in the morning and swore an oath with each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace.

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 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug. They said, “We have 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 He called the well Shibah, so the name of that city is Beersheba to this day.

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

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took a wife, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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 They brought sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

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