Genesis, 26

1. There was a famine in the country -- different from the previous famine which took place in the time of Abraham -- and Isaac went to Abimelech, the Philistine king at Gerar.

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. Yahweh had appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the country which I shall point out to you.

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. Remain for the present in that country; I shall be with you and bless you, for I shall give all these countries to you and your descendants in fulfilment of the oath I swore to your father Abraham.

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. I shall make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I shall give them all these countries, and all nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants

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. in return for Abraham's obedience; for he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.'

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

6. So Isaac stayed at Gerar.

6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

7. When the people of the place asked him about his wife he replied, 'She is my sister,' for he was afraid to say, 'She is my wife,' thinking, 'The people of the place will kill me because of Rebekah, since she is beautiful.'

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. When he had been there some time, Abimelech the Philistine king happened to look out of the window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah.

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. Abimelech summoned Isaac and said to him, 'Surely she must be your wife! How could you have said, "She is my sister"?' Isaac replied, 'Because I thought I might be killed on her account.'

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. Abimelech said, 'What a thing to do to us! One of the people might easily have slept with your wife. We should have incurred guilt, thanks to you.'

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. Then Abimelech issued this order to all the people: 'Whoever touches this man or his wife will be put to death.'

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

12. Isaac sowed his crops in that country, and that year he reaped a hundredfold. Yahweh blessed him

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

13. and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he was very rich indeed.

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

14. He acquired flocks and herds and a large retinue. The Philistines began to envy him.

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

15. The Philistines had blocked up all the wells dug by his father's servants -- in the days of his father Abraham -- filling them in with earth.

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. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, 'You must leave us, for you have become much more powerful than we are.'

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

17. So Isaac left; he pitched camp in the Valley of Gerar and there he stayed.

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

18. Isaac reopened the wells dug by the servants of his father Abraham and blocked up by the Philistines after Abraham's death, and he gave them the same names as his father had given them.

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. But when Isaac's servants, digging in the valley, found a well of spring-water there,

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

20. the herdsmen of Gerar disputed it with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, 'That water is ours!' So Isaac named the well Esek, because they had disputed with him.

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. They dug another well, and there was a dispute over that one too; so he named it Sitnah.

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

22. Then he left there, and dug another well, and since there was no dispute over this one, he named it Rehoboth, saying, 'Now Yahweh has made room for us to thrive in the country.'

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. From there he went up to Beersheba.

23. And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

24. Yahweh appeared to him the same night and said: I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I shall bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.

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. There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants sank a well.

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. Abimelech came from Gerar to see him, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

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

27. Isaac said to them, 'Why do you come to me since you hate me, and have made me leave you?'

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

28. 'It became clear to us that Yahweh was with you,' they replied, 'and so we thought, "It is time to have a treaty sworn between us, between us and you." So let us make a covenant with 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 you will not do us any harm, since we never molested you but were unfailingly kind to you and let you go away in peace. Henceforth, Yahweh's blessing on 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.

30. He then made them a feast and they ate and drank.

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

31. Early next morning, they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac bade them farewell and they left him as friends.

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. It happened, the same day, that Isaac's servants brought him news about the well they had been digging. 'We have found water!' they said to him.

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. So he called the well Sheba, and hence the town is named Beersheba to this day.

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

34. When Esau was forty years old he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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. These were a bitter disappointment to Isaac and Rebekah.

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