Genesis 26 — Isaac in Gerar and the Covenant Renewed

1And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.💡

2And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:💡

3sojourn 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 sware unto Abraham thy father;💡

4and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;💡

5because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.💡

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:💡

7and 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, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.💡

8And 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.💡

9And 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.💡

10And 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.💡

11And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.💡

12And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold: and Jehovah blessed him.💡

13And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great:💡

14and he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household: and the Philistines envied him.💡

15Now all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.💡

16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.💡

17And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.💡

18And 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.💡

19And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.💡

20And the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.💡

21And they digged another well, and they strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.💡

22And 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 Jehovah hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.💡

23And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.💡

24And Jehovah 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.💡

25And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.💡

26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.💡

27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?💡

28And they said, We saw plainly that Jehovah 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,💡

29that 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 Jehovah.💡

30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.💡

31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.💡

32And 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.💡

33And he called it Shibah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.💡

34And 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:💡

35and they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.💡