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 was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went unto Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, unto 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 the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.

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, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, will I give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto 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 I will cause thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves.

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

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6 And so Isaac remained in Gerar.

And 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.

And the men of the place asked [him] concerning his wife; and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, [said he, ] the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is of a handsome appearance.

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 he had been there a long time, that Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting 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.”

And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I thought, Perhaps I may die for her.

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,

And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? How easily might one of the people have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought guiltiness upon us.

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

And Abimelech charged all his 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.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundred-fold: so the Lord blessed him.

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

And the man became great, and went forward and grew, until he became very great;

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

And he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store 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 all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, these the Philistines stopped, and filled them with earth.

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, Go away from us; for thou hast become much mightier than we.

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

And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent 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 dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

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

And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing 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 did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Essek; because they strove with him.

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

And they dug another well, and they strove for that also: and he called the name of it 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 removed from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rechoboth, and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall increase in the land.

23 Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

And he went up from there 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 the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, 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.

And he built there an altar, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched there his tent: and the servants of Isaac dug there a well.

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

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Achuzzath his friend, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

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 come ye to me, seeing that ye do hate me, and have 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 clearly that the Lord was with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us and thee; and we will make 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 shalt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now one blessed of the Lord.

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

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

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

And they rose up betimes in the morning, and they swore one to the other; and Isaac sent them away, 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 the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and they said unto 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.

And he called it Shibah: therefore is the name of the city 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 the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bahsemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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

And they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.