Genesis 26

1 And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

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 the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

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

3 And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

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 will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

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

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

6 So Isaac abode in Gerara.

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7 And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.

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 when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.

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 calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

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 said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

“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 He that shall touch this man’s wife, shall surely be put to death.

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

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed 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 was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

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

14 And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying 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 Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

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

16 Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art 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 So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

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

18 And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had 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 they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

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

20 But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

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 digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

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

22 Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

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 went up from that place to Bersabee,

From there he moved on to Beersheba.

24 Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

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 built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to 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 To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

Sometime later Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac, along with Ahuzzath his advisor, and Phicol the commander of his army.

27 Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

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

28 And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

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

29 That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

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 made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

So Isaac had a special meal prepared to celebrate the agreement. They ate and drank,

31 Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

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 behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: 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 Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even 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 being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

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

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

They caused Isaac and Rebekah a great deal of grief.