26:1 There was1 a famine in the land, besides the first famine that occurred2 in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 26:2 And the LORD appeared3 to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt;4 settle down in the land that I will show5 you. 26:3 Stay6 in this land, and I will be with you7 and I will bless you;8 for to you and to your descendants9 I will give all these lands, and I will confirm10 the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.11 26:4 I will multiply12 your descendants13 as the stars of the heavens, and I will give 14 to your descendants15 all these lands, and all the nations on the earth will be blessed16 through your descendants;17 26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”18 26:6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.
26:7 When19 the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”20 because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” thinking,21 “lest the men of the place slay me over Rebekah, for she is very beautiful.”
26:8 And it happened after he had been there a long time22 that Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out from a window, and he saw23 Isaac playing24 with Rebekah his wife. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “Surely25 she is your wife! So how is it that you said, `She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought,26 `lest I die because of her’.”
26:10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this27 you have done to us? One of the men28 might have easily lain with29 your wife, and you would have brought guilt30 on us.” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “Whoever touches31 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”32
26:12 When Isaac planted33 in that land, he reaped in that year a hundred measures;34 so the LORD blessed him.35 26:13 And the man became great,36 and he continued to grow in greatness37 until he was exceedingly great. 26:14 He had38 sheep39 and cattle40 and a great household of servants; and the Philistines envied41 him. 26:15 So all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines stopped up and filled them with dirt.
26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you have become much more powerful42 than we.” 26:17 So Isaac departed from there and camped in the wadi43 Gerar, and he lived there. 26:18 And Isaac dug again44 the wells of water that were dug45 in the days of Abraham his father, for46 the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he named them47 after the names his father had given them.48
26:19 And the servants of Isaac dug in the wadi and found there a well of fresh flowing49 water. 26:20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled50 with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So the name of the well was called,51 Esek, because they contended52 with him. 26:21 So they dug another well; but they but they quarreled over it also; so its name was called53 Sitnah.54 26:22 So he moved away from there and dug another well; but they did not quarrel over it; so its name was called Rehoboth, and he said, “For now the LORD has made room55 for us and we will be fruitful in the land.”
26:23 And he went up to Beersheba from there. 26:24 And the LORD appeared to him in that night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and I will bless you and I will multiply your descendants56 for the sake of Abraham my servant.” 26:25 Isaac built57 there an altar and made proclamation in the name of the LORD.58 Then he pitched his tent there; and there the servants of Isaac dug a well.
26:26 Now Abimelech had come59 to him from Gerar, with60 Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the captain of his army. 26:27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since61 you hate me and sent me away from you?” 26:28 And they said, “We could plainly see62 that the LORD was with you; so we said, “There should be63 be a pact between us, between us and you; let us cut64 a covenant with you, 26:29 that65 you will not do us any harm, just as we have not touched you, just as we have only treated you well66 and sent you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the LORD.”67
26:30 So Isaac made a feast, and they ate and they drank. 26:31 And early in the morning68 the men swore an oath to each other;69 and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
26:32 And on that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug; and they said to him, “We have found water.” 26:33 So he called it Shibah;70 that is why the name of the city has been Beersheba until this day.
26:34 When71 Esau was forty years old72 he took as a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 But they were a grief of mind73 to Isaac and to Rebekah.