26
1 There
was a famine
in the land,
in addition to the
first famine that
was in the
days of Abraham.
Isaac went
to Abimelech king
of the Philistines,
to Gerar.
2 The
LORD appeared to
him, and said, “Don’t
go down into
Egypt. Live in
the land I will
tell you about.
3 Live
in this land, and
I will be
with you, and
will bless you.
For I will
give to you,
and to your
offspring, all
these lands, and I
will establish the
oath which I
swore to Abraham
your father.
4 I
will multiply your
offspring as the
stars of the
sky, and will
give all
these lands to
your offspring. In
your offspring all
the nations of
the earth will
be blessed,
5 because Abraham obeyed
my voice, and
kept my requirements,
my commandments,
my statutes, and
my laws.”
6 Isaac
lived in Gerar.
7 The
men of the
place asked him
about his wife.
He said, “She is
my sister,” for he
was afraid to say,
“My wife”, lest,
he thought, “the
men of the
place might kill
me for Rebekah,
because she is
beautiful to look
at.”
8 When
he had been
there a long
time, Abimelech king
of the Philistines
looked out at
a window, and
saw, and, behold,
Isaac was
caressing Rebekah,
his wife.
9 Abimelech
called Isaac, and
said, “Behold,
surely she is
your wife. Why did
you say, ‘She is
my sister’?”
Isaac said to
him, “Because I
said, ‘Lest I
die because of
her.’ ”
10 Abimelech said, “What
is this you
have done to
us? One of
the people might
easily have lain
with your wife,
and you would
have brought guilt
on us!”
11 Abimelech
commanded all the
people, saying, “He
who touches this
man or his wife
will surely be
put to death.”
12 Isaac
sowed in that land,
and reaped in
the same year
one hundred
times what he
planted. The LORD
blessed him.
13 The man
grew great, and
grew more and
more until he
became very great.
14 He
had possessions of
flocks, possessions
of herds, and
a great household.
The Philistines
envied him.
15 Now
all the wells
which his father’s
servants had dug
in the days
of Abraham his father,
the Philistines
had stopped, and
filled with earth.
16 Abimelech said
to Isaac, “Go
away from us,
for you are
much mightier than
we.”
17 Isaac
departed from
there, encamped in
the valley of
Gerar, and lived
there.
18 Isaac
dug again the wells
of water, which
they had dug
in the days
of Abraham his father,
for the
Philistines had
stopped them after
the death
of Abraham. He
called their names
after the names
by which his father
had called them.
19 Isaac’s
servants dug in
the valley, and
found there a well
of flowing
water.
20 The
herdsmen of
Gerar argued with
Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The
water is ours.” So
he called the
name of the
well Esek,
because they
contended with him.
21 They
dug another well,
and they argued
over that, also.
So he called
its name
Sitnah.
22 He
left that place,
and dug
another well. They didn’t
argue over that
one. So he
called it
Rehoboth.
He said, “For
now the LORD
has made room
for us, and
we will be
fruitful in
the land.”
23 He
went up from
there to Beersheba.
24 The
LORD appeared to
him the same
night, and said, “I
am the God
of Abraham your father. Don’t
be afraid, for
I am with
you, and will
bless you, and
multiply your
offspring for my
servant Abraham’s sake.”
25 He
built an altar
there, and called
on the LORD’s
name, and pitched
his tent there.
There Isaac’s
servants dug
a well.
26 Then Abimelech went
to him from
Gerar with Ahuzzath
his friend, and
Phicol the captain
of his army.
27 Isaac said
to them, “Why
have you come
to me, since you
hate me, and
have sent me
away from you?”
28 They said,
“We saw plainly
that the LORD
was with you.
We said, ‘Let
there now be
an oath between us,
even between us
and you, and
let’s make a
covenant with you,
29 that
you will do
us no harm,
as we have
not touched you,
and as we
have done to
you nothing but
good, and have
sent you away
in peace.’ You
are now the
blessed of the
LORD.”
30 He
made them a
feast, and they ate
and drank.
31 They
rose up some time
in the morning,
and swore an
oath to one another.
Isaac sent them
away, and they
departed from him
in peace.
32 The
same day, Isaac’s
servants came, and
told him
concerning the well
which they had
dug, and said to
him, “We have
found water.”
33 He
called it “Shibah”.
Therefore the name
of the city
is “Beersheba”
to this day.
34 When
Esau was forty
years old, he
took as wife
Judith, the
daughter of Beeri
the Hittite, and
Basemath, the
daughter of Elon
the Hittite.
35 They grieved
Isaac’s and
Rebekah’s spirits.