Genesis 26

Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^[a]Abimelech king of the Philistines.

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.

The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which 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:

Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore 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, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

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;

because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

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

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my ^[b]sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.”

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.

It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac ^[c]caressing Rebekah his wife.

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.

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].”

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 said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].”

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.

Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”

And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished;

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

he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him.

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

Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt.

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.

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.”

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

So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

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

Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

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.

But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water,

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

the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.

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.

Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity).

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

He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made ^[d]room for us, and we shall be ^[e]prosperous in the land.”

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.

Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

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.

So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

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.

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

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

Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you,

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;

that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’”

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.

Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank.

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

They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.

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.

Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, 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 digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

So he named the well ^[f]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

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

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:

and they were a ^[g]source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.

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