Genesis 26

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

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 will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto 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 make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed 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 that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, 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 dwelt in Gerar:

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7 And the men of the place asked him of 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 was fair to look upon.

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 came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah 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 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 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 said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

“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 charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his 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 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an 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 waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

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

14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied 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 For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

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

16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art 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 departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

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

18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father 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 Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

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

20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove 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 digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

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

22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be 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 went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

From there he moved on to Beersheba.

24 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 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 builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

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

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

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

27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent 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 said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

“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 wilt 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 the blessed 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 they did eat and drink.

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

31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed 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 came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto 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 called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto 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 was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the 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 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

They caused Isaac and Rebekah a great deal of grief.