Genesis 26
1 And there was a famine in the land,
besides the former famine, which was in the time of Abraam; and Isaac went to
Abimelech the king of the Phylistines to Gerara.
2 And the Lord appeared to him and
said, Go not down to Egypt, but dwell in the land, which I shall tell thee of.
3 And sojourn in this land; and I will
be with thee, and bless thee, for I will give to thee and to thy seed all this
land; and I will establish my oath which I swore to thy father Abraam.
4 And I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of heaven; and I will give to thy seed all this land, and all the
nations of the earth shall be blest in thy seed.
5 Because Abraam thy father hearkened
to my voice, and kept my injunctions, and my commandments, and my ordinances,
and my statutes. 6 And Isaac dwelt in
Gerara. 7 And the men of the place
questioned him concerning Rebecca his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for
he feared to say, She is my wife, lest at any time the men of the place should
slay him because of Rebecca, because she was
aGr. fair of countenance.fair. 8 And he remained there a long
time, and Abimelech the king of Gerara leaned to look through the window, and
saw Isaac sporting with Rebecca his wife.
9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said
to him, Is she then thy wife? why hast thou said, She is my sister? And Isaac
said to him, I did so, for I said, Lest at any time I
die on her account. 10 And Abimelech
said to him, Why hast thou done this to us? one of my kindred
bq. d. had almost.within a little had lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought
a sin of ignorance upon us.
11 And Abimelech charged all his
people, saying, Every man that touches this man and his wife shall be liable
to death. 12 And Isaac sowed in that
land, and he found in that year barley an hundred-fold, and the Lord blessed
him. 13 And the man was exalted, and
advancing he increased, till he became very great.
14 And he had cattle of sheep, and
cattle of oxen, and many tilled lands, and the Phylistines envied him.
15 And all the wells which the
servants of his father had dug in the time of his father, the Phylistines
stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said to Isaac,
Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
17 And Isaac departed thence, and
rested in the valley of Gerara, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac dug again the wells of
water, which the servants of his father Abraam had dug, and the Phylistines
had stopped them, after the death of his father Abraam; and he gave them
names, according to the names by which his father named them.
19 And the servants of Isaac dug in
the valley of Gerara, and they found there a well of living water.
20 And the shepherds of Gerara strove
with the shepherds of Isaac, saying that the water was theirs; and they called
the name of the well, Injury, for they injured him.
21 And having departed thence he dug
another well, and they strove also for that; and he named the name of it,
Enmity. 22 And he departed thence and
dug another well; and they did not strive about that; and he named the name of
it, Room, saying, Because now the Lord has made room for us, and has increased
us upon the earth.
23 And he went up thence to the well
of the oath. 24 And the Lord appeared
to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraam thy father; fear not,
for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for the sake
of Abraam thy father. 25 And he built
there an altar, and called on the name of the Lord, and there he pitched his
tent, and there the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley of Gerara.
26 And Abimelech came to him from
Gerara, and so did Ochozath his
cq. d. he that gives away in marriage.friend, and Phichol the commander-in-chief of his army.
27 And Isaac said to them, Wherefore
have ye come to me? whereas ye hated me, and sent me away from you.
28 And they said, We have surely seen
that the Lord was with thee, and we said, Let there be an oath between us and
thee, and we will make a covenant with thee,
29 that thou shalt do no wrong by us,
as we have not abhorred thee, and according as we have treated thee well, and
have sent thee forth peaceably; and now thou art blessed of the Lord.
30 And he made a feast for them, and
they ate and drank. 31 And they arose
in the morning, and swore each to his neighbour; and Isaac sent them forth,
and they departed from him in safety.
32 And it came to pass in that day,
that the servants of Isaac came and told him of the well which they had dug;
and they said, We have not found water.
33 And he called it, Oath: therefore
he called the name of that city, the Well of Oath, until this day.
34 And Esau was forty years old; and
he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beoch the
dAlex. Hivite.Chettite, and Basemath, daughter of Helon the Chettite.
35 And they were provoking to Isaac
and Rebecca.