Genesis

The first book of Moses, called Genesis, chapter 26, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 26 New English Translation

Isaac and Abimelech

   1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 3 Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham. 4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 5 All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
   7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful."
   8 After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "Because I thought someone might kill me to get her."
   10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, "What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!" 11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, "Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."
   12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. 14 He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.
   16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are." 17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them.
   19 When Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing water there, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water belongs to us!" So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it. 21 His servants dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it Sitnah. 22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land."
   23 From there Isaac went up to Beer Sheba. 24 The LORD appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham." 25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.
   26 Now Abimelech had come to him from Gerar along with Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you." 28 They replied, "We could plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us - between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you 29 so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the LORD."
   30 So Isaac held a feast for them and they celebrated. 31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms.
   32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. "We've found water," they reported. 33 So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.
   34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety.

King James Version

   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.
   2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
   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 countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
   4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
   5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
   6 ¶ And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
   7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
   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.
   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 for her.
   10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
   11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
   12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
   13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
   14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
   15 For 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.
   16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
   17 ¶ And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
   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.
   19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
   20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is our's: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
   21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
   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.
   23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
   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.
   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 ¶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
   27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
   28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
   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.
   30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
   31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
   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.
   33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
   34 ¶ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
   35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.