Genesis Chapter 26

Genesis Chapter 26
1 And there was a famine in the land
besides the first famine that was in the
days of Abraham. Wherefore Isaac went
to Abimelech king of the Philistines unto
Gerar.
2 For the Lord appeared unto him, and
said, Go not down into
Egypt, but abide in the land which I
shall show unto thee. 3 Dwell in this
land, and I will be with thee, and will
bless thee: for to thee, and to thy seed I
will give all these countries: and I will
perform the oath which I swear unto
Abraham thy father.
4 Also I will cause 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 mine ordinance, my
commandments, my statutes, and my
Laws.
6 So 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, because of Rebekah: for she was
beautiful to the eye. 8 So after he had
been there long time, Abimelech king of
the Philistines looked out at a window,
and lo, he saw Isaac sporting with
Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech
called Isaac, and said, Lo, she is of a
surety thy wife, and why sayest thou, She
is my sister? To whom Isaac answered,
Because I thought this, It may be that I
shall die for her.
10 Then Abimelech said, Why hast thou
done this unto us? One of the people had
almost lain by thy wife, so shouldest
thou have brought sin upon us. 11 Then
Abimelech charged all his people,
saying, He that toucheth this man, or his
wife, shall die the death.
12 Afterward Isaac sowed in that land,
and found in the same year an hundred
fold by estimation: and so the Lord
blessed him.
13 And the man waxed mighty, and still
increased, till he was exceeding great,
14 For he had flocks of sheep, and herds
of cattle, and a mighty household:
therefore the Philistines had envy at him.
15 In so much that the Philistines
stopped and filled up with earth all the
wells, which his father’s servants digged
in his father Abraham’s time. 16 Then
Abimelech said unto Isaac, Get thee
from us, for thou art mightier than we a
great deal.
17 Therefore Isaac departed thence and
pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar,
and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac returning, digged 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 gave them the
same names, which his father gave them.
19 Isaac’s servants then digged in the
valley, and found there a well of living
water.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar did strive
with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The
water is ours: therefore called he the
name of the well Esek, because they
were at strife with him.
21 Afterward they digged another well,
and strove for that also, and he called
the name of it Sitnah.
22 Then he removed thence, and digged
another well, for the which they strove
not: therefore called he the name of it
Rehoboth, and said, Because the Lord
hath now made us room, we shall
increase upon the earth. 23 So he went
up 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 will
multiply thy seed for my servant
Abraham’s sake.
25 Then he built an altar there, and
called upon the name of the Lord, and
there spread his tent: where also Isaac’s
servants digged a well. 26 Then came
Abimelech to him from Gerar, and
Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol
the captain of his army.
27 To whom Isaac said, Wherefore
come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and
have put me away from you?
28 Who answered, We saw certainly
that the Lord was with thee, and we
thought thus, Let there be now an oath
between us , even between us and thee,
and let us make a covenant with thee.
29 Thou shalt do us no hurt, as we have
not touched thee, and as we have done
unto thee nothing but good, and sent thee
away in peace: thou now, the blessed of
the Lord , do this.
30 Then he made them a feast, and they
did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the
morning, and swear one to another: then
Isaac let them go, and they departed from
him in peace.
32 And that same day Isaac’s servants
came and told him of a well, which they
had digged, and said unto him, We have
found water.
33 So he called it Shibah: therefore the
name of the city is called Beer-sheba
unto this day.
34 Now when Esau was forty years old,
he took to wife Judith, the daughter of
Beeri an Hittite, and Basemath the
daughter of Elon an Hittite also. 35 And
they were a grief of mind to Isaac and to
Rebekah.