Genesis 26

1A famine struck the land, besides the first famine that arose in Abraham's days. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2Yahweh appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land I will tell you about."

3Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath I swore to Abraham your father.

4I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens and give all these lands to your offspring; all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.

5Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7The men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," because he feared saying, "My wife," lest the men of the place kill me because of Rebekah, since she is beautiful in appearance.

8When he had stayed there a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through the window and saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife.

9Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Look, she certainly is your wife—how did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her.'"

10Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people almost slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us!"

11Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

12Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold in that year, and Yahweh blessed him.

13The man became great and continued advancing and growing until he became very great.

14He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many servants, and the Philistines envied him.

15All the wells his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled with earth.

16Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from our midst, for you have become far too powerful for us."

17Isaac left there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

18Isaac dug the water wells again, the ones they had dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had filled after Abraham's death; he named them after the names his father had given them.

19Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living water.

20Gerar's shepherds quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, saying, "The water is ours." He named the well Esek, because they had contended with him.

21They dug another well, and they quarreled over it too; he called its name Sitnah.

22He departed from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He called its name Rehoboth and said, "For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

23From there he went up to Beersheba.

24Yahweh appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father; do not fear, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your offspring for the sake of Abraham my servant."

25He built an altar there and called on the name of Yahweh, pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there.

26Abimelech, Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the chief of his army went to him from Gerar.

27Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, you who hate me and have driven me away from you?"

28They said, "We have clearly seen that Yahweh is with you, and we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you.'"

29That you will not bring harm upon us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done only good toward you and sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by Yahweh.

30He made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31They rose early in the morning and swore to one another; Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, "We have found water."

33He called it Shebah, so the city's name is Beersheba to this day.

34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35They were a grief of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah.