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, 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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,

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

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

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

And so Isaac remained 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.”

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.”

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,

11 So Abimelech warned all the people and said, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

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

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, because Yahweh blessed him.

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

13 The man became rich, and grew more and more until he became very great.

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

14 He had many sheep and cattle, and a large household. The Philistines envied him.

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

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.

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

16 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

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

17 So Isaac departed from there and settled in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there.

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

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.

19 When Isaac's servants dug in the valley, they found there a well of flowing water.

And they dug in the torrent, and they found living 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 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.’

21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that, too, so he gave it the name of “Sitnah.”

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

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.”

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.”

23 Then Isaac went up from there to Beersheba.

Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

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.”

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.”

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

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.

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

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

27 Isaac said to them, “Why are you coming to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

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

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.”

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.”

30 So Isaac made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Therefore, he made them a feast, and after the 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.

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

32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug. They said, “We have found water.”

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.”

33 He called the well Shibah, so the name of that city is Beersheba to this day.

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

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.

35 They brought sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.