Genesis 26

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 Then, when a famine arose over the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, in 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 to him, and he said: “Do not descend into Egypt, but rest in the land that I will tell 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 and sojourn in it, and I will be with you, and I will bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give all these regions, completing the oath that I promised to Abraham your 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 multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And I will give to your posterity all these regions. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,
5 this because Abraham obeyed me, keeping my mandate (my commandments, my ordinances, and my instructions)."	5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed the ceremonies and the laws.”
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.	6 And so Isaac remained 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 when he was questioned by the men of that place about his wife, he answered, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to confess her to be his mate, thinking that perhaps they would put him to death because of her beauty.
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 when very many days had passed, and he had remained in the same place, Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, gazing through a window, saw him being playful 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 summoning him, he said: “It is clear that she is your wife. Why did you falsely claim her to be your sister?” He answered, “I was afraid, lest I might die because of 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: “Why have you burdened us? Someone from the people could have lain with your wife, and you would have brought a great sin upon us.” And he instructed all the people, saying,
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 “Whoever will touch the wife of this man will die a 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 he found, in that same year, one 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 was enriched, and he continued prospering as well as increasing, 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 Likewise, he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very large family. Because of this, the Palestinians 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 so, at that time, they obstructed all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug, filling them with soil.
16 So Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become far too numerous for us."	16 It reached a point where Abimelech himself said to Isaac, “Move away from us, for you have become very much more powerful than we.”
17 Isaac left there and made the Wadi Gerar his regular campsite.	17 And departing, he then went toward the torrent of Gerar, and he 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 Again, he dug up other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had dug, and which, after his death, the Philistines had formerly obstructed. And he called them by the same names that his father had called them before.
19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the wadi and reached spring water in their well,	19 And they dug in the torrent, and they found living 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 But in that place also the shepherds of Gerar argued against the shepherds of Isaac, by saying, “It is our water.” For this reason, he called the name of the well, because of what had happened, ‘Calumny.’
21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one too; so it was called Sitnah.	21 Then they dug up yet another one. And over that one also they fought, and he called it, ‘Enmity.’
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 Advancing from there, he dug another well, over which they did not contend. And so he called its name, ‘Latitude,’ saying, “Now the Lord has expanded us and caused us to increase across the land.”
23 From there Isaac went up to Beer-sheba.	23 Then he ascended from that place into 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 where the Lord appeared to him on the same night, saying: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”
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 so he built an altar there. And he invoked the name of the Lord, and he stretched out his tent. And he instructed his servants to dig a well.
26 Abimelech had meanwhile come to him from Gerar, accompanied by Ahuzzath, his councilor, and Phicol, the general of his army.	26 When Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the leader of the military, had arrived from Gerar to that place,
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 have you come to me, a man whom you hate, and whom you have expelled from among 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 responded: “We saw that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us initiate a pact,
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 so that you may not do us any kind of harm, just as we have touched nothing of yours, and have not caused any injury to you, but with peace we released you, augmented by the blessing of the Lord.”
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.	30 Therefore, he made them a feast, and after the food and drink,
31 Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac bade them farewell, and they departed from him in peace.	31 arising in the morning, they swore to one another. And Isaac sent them away peacefully to their own place.
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 Then, behold, on the same day the servants of Isaac came, reporting to him about a well which they had dug, and saying: “We have found water.”
33 He called it Shibah; hence the name of the city, Beer-sheba, to this day.	33 Therefore, he called it, ‘Abundance.’ And the name of the city was established as ‘Beersheba,’ even to the present day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hivite.	34 In truth, at forty years of age, Esau took wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.
35 But they became a source of embitterment to Isaac and Rebekah.	35 And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.