Genesis 26

1 Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.

3 Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,

5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

7 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

10 “What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

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

12 Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

13 and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.

14 He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

15 So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”

17 So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

19 Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21 Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

24 and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

25 So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

26 Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

27 “Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.”

28 “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

29 that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

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

31 And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

32 On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him.

33 So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

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.

2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

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;

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;

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

6 ¶ And Isaac dwelt 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.

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.

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.

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.

11 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 received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied 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.

16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

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.

19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing 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.

21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

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.

23 And he went up from thence 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.

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.

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

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;

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.

30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

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.

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.

33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city [is] Beersheba unto 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:

35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

1 And there came a plague into the land above that which was in Abraham's days. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt, but tarry in the land which I tell thee.

3 Be a stranger in this land, and I will be with thee, and bless thee; For unto thee and unto thy seed will I give all these lands, and will confirm my oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father,

4 And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries. And by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

5 Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my statutes, and my commandments, and my judgments, and my laws.

6 So Isaac dwelt at Gerar.

7 And when the men of the same place asked of his wife, he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, She is my wife: they would slay me for Rebekah's sake: for she was fair of face.

8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a while, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through the window, and perceived that Isaac was jesting with Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called unto Isaac, and said, Behold, she is thy wife. How hast thou then said, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, I thought that I might die for her sake.

10 And Abimelech said, Why hast thou done this thing unto us? It were easy for one of the people to lie with thy wife, and so thou hadst brought guilt upon us.

11 And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, Whosoever toucheth this man, or his wife, shall surely be put to death.

12 And Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped an hundredfold in that year: for the LORD blessed him.

13 And he became a great man, and went and increased until he was almost great,

14 Because he had much substance of cattle, both small and great, and a great household. Therefore the Philistines envied him.

15 And they stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and filled them with earth,

16 And Abimelech said unto him, Depart from us: for thou art become too mighty for us.

17 And Isaac departed, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And he digged again the wells of water, which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines stopped up after Abraham's death, and called them by the same names that his father had called them.

19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water.

20 But the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: The water is ours. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they had wronged him there.

21 And they digged another well, and they quarreled over it: therefore it was called Sitnah.

22 And he departed thence, and digged another well, and they quarreled not: therefore he called his name Rehoboth, saying, Now hath the LORD made room for us, and caused us to grow in the land.

23 And afterward he departed from thence unto Beer-saba.

24 And the LORD appeared unto him that night, and said: I am thy father Abraham's God. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

25 And he built an altar there, and preached of the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and his servants digged a well there.

26 And Abimelech went unto him from Gerar, and Ahusath his friend, and Phichol his captain of the host.

27 But Isaac said unto them: Why come ye to me? Ye hate me, and have driven me from you.

28 And they said: We see with eyes that see, that the LORD is with thee. Therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee,

29 That thou do us no hurt, even as we have not touched thee, and as we have done thee nothing but good, and let thee go in peace. But thou art now the blessed of the LORD.

30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31 And they arose early in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

32 And the same day came Isaac's servants, and told him of the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

33 And he called his name Sheba: therefore the name of the city is called Beer-saba unto this day.

34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beri the Hittite, and Basmath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And they made both Isaac and Rebekah vain of heart.