1Now there was a famine in the land, besides #ch. 12:10 the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to #ch. 20:2 Abimelech king of the #ch. 21:34Philistines. 2And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell #ch. 12:1in the land of which I shall tell you. 3#ch. 20:1; Heb. 11:9 Sojourn in this land, and #ch. 28:15 I will be with you and will bless you, for #See ch. 13:15 to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish #[Mic. 7:20]; See ch. 22:16-18the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4#Cited Ex. 32:13; See ch. 15:5 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And #See ch. 12:3in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because #ch. 22:18Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, #ch. 12:13; 20:2, 13 he said, “She is my sister,” for #[Prov. 29:25] he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because #ch. 24:16she was attractive in appearance. 8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with#26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship Rebekah his wife. 9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and #ch. 20:9you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord #ver. 3; ch. 24:1, 35blessed him, 13and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines #[Eccles. 4:4]envied him. 15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells #ch. 21:30that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

17So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And #ch. 21:31he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar #ch. 21:25quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,#26:20 Esek means contention because they contended with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.#26:21 Sitnah means enmity 22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,#26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, #ch. 17:7; 24:12; 28:13; Ex. 3:6 “I am the God of Abraham your father. #ch. 15:1; See Ps. 27:1-3 Fear not, for #ch. 28:15; 31:3; [ch. 21:22, 23]I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25So he #ch. 12:7; 13:18built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and #ch. 21:22Phicol the commander of his army, 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and #ver. 16have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. #ch. 24:31You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they rose early and #ch. 21:31exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33He called it Shibah;#26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath therefore the name of the city is #ch. 21:31; 22:19Beersheba to this day.

34When Esau was forty years old, he took #[ch. 28:9; 36:2, 3]Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35and #ch. 27:46they made life bitter#26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah.

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Genesis 26

1And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which had been in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2And Jehovah appeared to him and said, Go not down to Egypt: dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of. 3Sojourn in this land; and I will be with thee and bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries; and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father. 4And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and unto thy seed will I give all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves — 5because that Abraham hearkened to my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6And Isaac dwelt at Gerar. 7And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, my wife, saying to himself, Lest the men of the place slay me on account of Rebecca — because she was fair in countenance. 8And it came to pass when he had been there some time, that Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out of the window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was dallying with Rebecca his wife. 9Then Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, she is certainly thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? and Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die on account of her. 10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done to us? But a little and one of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought a trespass on us. 11And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall certainly be put to death.

12And Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold; and Jehovah blessed him. 13And the man became great, and he became continually greater, until he was very great. 14And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great number of servants; and the Philistines envied him. 15And all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them and filled them with earth. 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go from us; for thou art become much mightier than we. 17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his camp in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18And Isaac dug again the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and that the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 20But the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac's shepherds, saying, The water is ours. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they had quarrelled with him. 21And they dug another well, and they strove for that also; and he called the name of it Sitnah. 22And he removed thence and dug another well; and they did not strive for that. And he called the name of it Rehoboth, and said, For now Jehovah has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. 23And he went up thence to Beer-sheba. 24And Jehovah appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God#GodHebrew: Elohim 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 built an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah. And he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26And Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, went to him from Gerar. 27And Isaac said to them, Why are ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have driven me away from you? 28And they said, We saw certainly that Jehovah is with thee; and we said, Let there be then an oath between us — between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee, 29that thou wilt do us no wrong, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done to thee nothing but good, and have let thee go in peace; thou art now blessed of Jehovah. 30And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31And they rose early in the morning, and swore 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 that they had dug, and said to him, We have found water. 33And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

34And Esau was forty years old, when he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basmath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebecca.

First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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Genesis 26

Genesis 26