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. Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abim'elech king of the Philistines.

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 to him, and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.

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 you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your 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. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves:

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

5. because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

6. So Isaac stayed at Gerar.

6. So 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. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister"; for he feared to say, "My wife," thinking, "lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of 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. When he had been there a long time, Abim'elech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling 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. So Abim'elech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, she is your wife; how then could you say, `She is my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I thought, `Lest I die because of 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. Abim'elech 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 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. So Abim'elech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."

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

12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. 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 became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.

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

14. He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that 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. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)

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

16. And Abim'elech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; for you are much mightier than we."

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

17. So Isaac departed from there, and encamped 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 dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.

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

19. But when Isaac's servants dug 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. the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled 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 there was a dispute over that one too; so he named it Sitnah.

21. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he called its name 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 moved from there and dug another well, and over that they did not quarrel; so he called its name Reho'both, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

23. From there he went up to Beersheba.

23. From there he went up to Beer-sheba.

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 to him the same night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants 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. So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

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

26. Then Abim'elech went to him from Gerar with Ahuz'zath his adviser and Phicol the commander 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. Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you 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. They said, "We see plainly that the LORD is with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

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 you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD."

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

30. So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

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

31. In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another; and Isaac set them on their way, 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. That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."

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

33. He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to 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. When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Be-e'ri the Hittite, and Bas'emath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;

35. These were a bitter disappointment to Isaac and Rebekah.

35. and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.