Genesis 26

1 And there is a famine in the land, besides the first famine which was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac goeth unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, to 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 And Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith, 'Go not down towards Egypt, tabernacle in the land concerning which I speak unto thee,

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 sojourn in this land, and I am with thee, and bless thee, for to thee and to thy seed I give all these lands, and I have established the oath which I have sworn to Abraham thy 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 and I have multiplied thy seed as stars of the heavens, and I have given to thy seed all these lands; and blessed themselves in thy seed have all nations of the earth;

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 because that Abraham hath hearkened to My voice, and keepeth My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.'

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

6 And Isaac dwelleth in Gerar;

So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

7 and men of the place ask him of his wife, and he saith, 'She [is] my sister:' for he hath been afraid to say, 'My wife — lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, for she [is] of good appearance.'

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 And it cometh to pass, when the days have been prolonged to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looketh through the window, and seeth, and lo, Isaac is playing with 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 And Abimelech calleth for Isaac, and saith, 'Lo, she [is] surely thy wife; and how hast thou said, She [is] my sister?' and Isaac saith unto him, 'Because I said, Lest I die for 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 And Abimelech saith, 'What [is] this thou hast done to us? as a little thing one of the people had lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us guilt;'

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 and Abimelech commandeth all the people, saying, 'He who cometh against this man or against his wife, dying doth die.'

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

12 And Isaac soweth in that land, and findeth in that year a hundredfold, and Jehovah blesseth 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 and the man is great, and goeth on, going on and becoming great, till that he hath been very great,

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

14 and he hath possession of a flock, and possession of a herd, and an abundant service; and the Philistines envy him,

For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.

15 and all the wells which his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust.

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 And Abimelech saith unto Isaac, 'Go from us; for thou hast become much mightier than we;'

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

17 and Isaac goeth from thence, and encampeth in the valley of Gerar, and dwelleth there;

So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

18 and Isaac turneth back, and diggeth the wells of water which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines do stop after the death of Abraham, and he calleth to them names according to the names which his father 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 And Isaac's servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water,

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

20 and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, 'The water [is] ours;' and he calleth the name of the well 'Strife,' because they have striven habitually 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 and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calleth its name 'Hatred.'

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

22 And he removeth from thence, and diggeth another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calleth its name Enlargements, and saith, 'For — now hath Jehovah given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful 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 And he goeth up from thence [to] Beer-Sheba,

And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 and Jehovah appeareth unto him during that night, and saith, 'I [am] the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I [am] with thee, and have blessed thee, and have multiplied thy seed, because of Abraham My servant;'

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 and he buildeth there an altar, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah, and stretcheth out there his tent, and there Isaac's servants dig 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 And Abimelech hath gone unto him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol head of his host;

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

27 and Isaac saith unto them, 'Wherefore have ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and ye send 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 And they say, 'We have certainly seen that Jehovah hath been with thee, and we say, 'Let there be, we pray thee, an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

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 do not evil with us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have only done good with thee, and send thee away in peace; thou [art] now blessed of Jehovah.'

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 And he maketh for them a banquet, and they eat and drink,

Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

31 and rise early in the morning, and swear one to another, and Isaac sendeth them away, and they go from 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 And it cometh to pass during that day that Isaac's servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have digged, and say to him, '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 and he calleth it Shebah, [oath, ] therefore the name of the city [is] Beer-Sheba, [well of the oath, ] unto this day.

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

34 And Esau is a son of forty years, and he taketh a wife, Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, 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 and they are a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

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