Genesis 26

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 There was a famine in the land (distinct from the earlier one that had occurred in the days of Abraham), and Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines in 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 The LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt, but continue to camp wherever in this land I tell 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 Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands, in fulfillment of the oath that 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 will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing--	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 this because Abraham obeyed me, keeping my mandate (my commandments, my ordinances, and my instructions)."	5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.	6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7 When the men of the place asked questions about his wife, he answered, "She is my sister." He was afraid, if he called her his wife, the men of the place would kill him on account of Rebekah, since she was very 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 But when he had been there for a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, happened to look out of a window and was surprised to see 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 He called for Isaac and said: "She must certainly be your wife! How could you have said, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "I thought I might lose my life 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 "How could you do this to us!" exclaimed Abimelech. "It would have taken very little for one of the men to lie with your wife, and you would have thus brought guilt upon us!"	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 Abimelech therefore gave this warning to all his men: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall forthwith 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 a crop in that region and reaped a hundredfold the same year. Since the LORD blessed him,	12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
13 he became richer and richer all the time, until he was very wealthy indeed.	13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 He acquired such flocks and herds, and so many work animals, that the Philistines became envious of him.	14 For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15 (The Philistines had stopped up and filled with dirt all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.)	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 So Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become far too numerous for us."	16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17 Isaac left there and made the Wadi Gerar his regular campsite.	17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 (Isaac reopened the wells which his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death; he gave them the same names that 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 dug in the wadi and reached spring water in their well,	19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's servants, saying, "The water belongs to us!" So the well was called Esek, because they had challenged him there.	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 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one too; so it was called Sitnah.	21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also:and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22 When he had moved on from there, he dug still another well; but over this one they did not quarrel. It was called Rehoboth, because he said, "The LORD has now given us ample room, and we shall flourish in the land."	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 Isaac went up to Beer-sheba.	23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
24 The same night the LORD appeared to him and said: "I am the God of your father Abraham. You have no need to fear, since I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."	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 So he built an altar there and invoked the LORD by name. After he had pitched his tent there, his servants began to dig a well nearby.	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 had meanwhile come to him from Gerar, accompanied by Ahuzzath, his councilor, and Phicol, the general 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 asked them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have driven me away from you?"	27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28 They answered: "We are convinced that the LORD is with you, so we propose that there be a sworn agreement between our two sides--between you and us. Let us make a pact 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 you shall not act unkindly toward us, just as we have not molested you, but have always acted kindly toward you and have let you depart in peace. Henceforth, 'The LORD'S blessing be upon 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 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.	30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac bade them farewell, and they departed from him in peace.	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 That same day Isaac's servants came and brought him news about the well they had been digging; they told him, "We have reached water!"	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 He called it Shibah; hence the name of the city, Beer-sheba, to this day.	33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hivite.	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 But they became a source of embitterment to Isaac and Rebekah.	35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.