26:1 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.
26:2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.
26:3 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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father;
26:4 and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves;
26:5 because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.'
26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
26:7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.'
26:8 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.
26:9 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 because of her.'
26:10 And Abimelech said: 'What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.'
26:11 And Abimelech charged all the people, saying: 'He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.'
26:12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundred-fold; and the Lord blessed him.
26:13 And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great.
26:14 And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household; and the Philistines envied him.
26:15 Now 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.
26:16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac: 'Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.'
26:17 And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
26:18 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.
26:19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water.
26:20 And the herdmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdmen, saying: 'The water is ours.' And he called the name of the well Esek; because they contended with him.
26:21 And they digged another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it Sitnah.
26:22 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.'
26:23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
26:24 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.'
26:25 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.
26:26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.
26:27 And Isaac said unto them: 'Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?'
26:28 And they said: 'We saw plainly that the Lord was with thee; and we said: Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
26:29 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.'
26:30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
26:31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
26:32 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.'
26:33 And he called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
26:34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
26:35 And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.