Chapter 26
1
And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
2
And the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I said to you."
3
Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed I will give all the lands of God, and I will establish the covenant oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4
And I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I will give to your seed all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves in your seed.
5
Because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my observances, my commandments, my statutes, and my Torah.
6
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7
The men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," for he feared to say, "My wife," lest the men of the place should kill him over Rebekah, for she was good of appearance.
8
And it happened that, when he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through the window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife.
9
And Abimelech called to Isaac and said, "Surely, look, she is your wife. How did you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.'"
10
And Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people almost lay with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."
11
And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "The one who touches this man or his wife—death will be put to death."
12
And Isaac sowed in that land and found in that year a hundredfold, and the LORD blessed him.
13
And the man became great, and he kept on going and becoming great, until he became very great.
14
He had flocks of sheep and herds of oxen and many servants, and the Philistines envied him.
15
And all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up and filled with dirt.
16
And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you have become much stronger than us."
17
And Isaac went from there and encamped by the wadi of Gerar and dwelt there.
18
And Isaac returned and dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham; and he called them by the names that his father had called them.
19
And Isaac's servants dug in the wadi and found there a well of living waters.
20
The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.
21
They dug another well, and they quarreled over it also, and he called its name Sitnah.
22
And he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it, and he called its name Rehoboth, and he said, "For now the LORD has enlarged our borders, and we will be fruitful in the land."
23
He went up from there to Beersheba.
24
The LORD appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring for the sake of Abraham my servant."
25
He built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. He pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there.
26
And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol the commander of his army.
27
And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing you hated me and sent me away from you?"
28
They said, "We have seen that the LORD is with you. So let there be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us cut a covenant with you."
29
If you do evil to us, as we did not touch you and as we did only good to you and sent you away in peace, you are now blessed by the LORD.
30
He made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
31
They rose early in the morning and swore oaths to each other, and Isaac sent them away, and they went from him in peace.
32
That same day, Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said to him, "We have found water."
33
He called it Seven for this reason. The name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34
Esau was forty years old when he took as wife Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35
They became a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah.