Genesis 26

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
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 There was a famine in the country -- different from the previous famine which took place in the time ofAbraham -- and Isaac went to Abimelech, the Philistine king at 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 Yahweh had appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the country which I shalpoint out to you.
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 Remain for the present in that country; I shal be with you and bless you, for I shal give al thesecountries to you and your descendants in fulfilment of the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
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 I shal make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I shal give them al thesecountries, and al nations on earth wil bless themselves by your descendants
5 this because Abraham obeyed me, keeping my mandate (my commandments, my ordinances, and my instructions)."	5 in return for Abraham's obedience; for he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and mylaws.'
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.	6 So Isaac stayed at 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 When the people of the place asked him about his wife he replied, 'She is my sister,' for he was afraidto say, 'She is my wife,' thinking, 'The people of the place wil kil me because of Rebekah, since she is beautiful.'
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 When he had been there some time, Abimelech the Philistine king happened to look out of the windowand saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah.
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 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 kil ed on her account.'
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 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.'
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 Then Abimelech issued this order to al the people: 'Whoever touches this man or his wife wil be putto death.'
12 Isaac sowed a crop in that region and reaped a hundredfold the same year. Since the LORD blessed him,	12 Isaac sowed his crops in that country, and that year he reaped a hundredfold. Yahweh blessed him
13 he became richer and richer all the time, until he was very wealthy indeed.	13 and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he was very rich indeed.
14 He acquired such flocks and herds, and so many work animals, that the Philistines became envious of him.	14 He acquired flocks and herds and a large retinue. The Philistines began to envy 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 The Philistines had blocked up al the wel s dug by his father's servants -- in the days of his fatherAbraham -- fil ing them in with earth.
16 So Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become far too numerous for us."	16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, 'You must leave us, for you have become much more powerful thanwe are.'
17 Isaac left there and made the Wadi Gerar his regular campsite.	17 So Isaac left; he pitched camp in the Val ey of Gerar and there he stayed.
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 Isaac reopened the wel s dug by the servants of his father Abraham and blocked up by thePhilistines after Abraham's death, and he gave them the same names as his father had given them.
19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the wadi and reached spring water in their well,	19 But when Isaac's servants, digging in the val ey, found a wel of spring-water there,
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 the herdsmen of Gerar disputed it with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, 'That water is ours!' So Isaacnamed the wel Esek, because they had disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one too; so it was called Sitnah.	21 They dug another wel , and there was a dispute over that one too; so he named 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 Then he left there, and dug another wel , and since there was no dispute over this one, he named itRehoboth, saying, 'Now Yahweh has made room for us to thrive in the country.'
23 From there Isaac went up to Beer-sheba.	23 From there he went up to Beersheba.
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 Yahweh appeared to him the same night and said: I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not beafraid, for I am with you. I shall bless you and multiply your offspring 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 There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac'sservants sank a wel .
26 Abimelech had meanwhile come to him from Gerar, accompanied by Ahuzzath, his councilor, and Phicol, the general of his army.	26 Abimelech came from Gerar to see him, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of hisarmy.
27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have driven me away from you?"	27 Isaac said to them, 'Why do you come to me since you hate me, and have made me leave 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 'It became clear to us that Yahweh was with you,' they replied, 'and so we thought, "It is time to havea treaty sworn between us, between us and you." So let us make a covenant with you:
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 you will not do us any harm, since we never molested you but were unfailingly kind to you andlet you go away in peace. Henceforth, Yahweh's blessing on you!'
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.	30 He then made them a feast and they ate and drank.
31 Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac bade them farewell, and they departed from him in peace.	31 Early next morning, they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac bade them farewell and they left him asfriends.
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 It happened, the same day, that Isaac's servants brought him news about the well they had beendigging. 'We have found water!' they said to him.
33 He called it Shibah; hence the name of the city, Beer-sheba, to this day.	33 So he cal ed the wel Sheba, and hence the town is named Beersheba to 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 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemathdaughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 But they became a source of embitterment to Isaac and Rebekah.	35 These were a bitter disappointment to Isaac and Rebekah.