1 N ow there was another time when there was no food in the land, after the time of no food in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.

And 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.

2 T he Lord showed Himself to Isaac, and said, “Do not go to Egypt. Stay in the land I will tell you about.

And Jehovah appeared to him and said, Go not down to Egypt: dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of.

3 L ive in this land and I will be with you and bring good to you. For I will give all these lands to you and your children. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.

Sojourn 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.

4 I will make your children and all your children’s children as many as the stars of heaven. I will give these lands to them.

And 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—

5 F or Abraham obeyed Me. He did what I told him to do. He kept My Word and My Law.”

because that Abraham hearkened to my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6 S o Isaac stayed in Gerar.

And Isaac dwelt at Gerar.

7 W hen the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought to himself, “The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.”

And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, my wife, Lest the men of the place slay me on account of Rebecca—because she was fair in countenance.

8 W hen Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of the window. And he saw Isaac loving his wife Rebekah.

And 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.

9 S o Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See, she is your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I would die because of her.”

Then 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.

10 A bimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might have lain with your wife. And you would have brought guilt upon us.”

And 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.

11 S o Abimelech told all the people, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”

And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall certainly be put to death.

12 I saac planted seeds in that land. And he gathered in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted. The Lord brought good to him.

And Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold; and Jehovah blessed him.

13 I saac became rich and kept getting richer until he became a great man.

And the man became great, and he became continually greater, until he was very great.

14 F or he had flocks and many cattle and many people working in his house. The Philistines became jealous of him.

And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great number of servants; and the Philistines envied him.

15 T hey filled all the wells with dirt that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

And 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.

16 T hen Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us. For you are too powerful for us.”

And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go from us; for thou art become much mightier than we.

17 S o Isaac left that place. He put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his camp in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 A nd Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham. For the Philistines had closed them up after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the same names that his father had given them.

And 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.

19 N ow Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of flowing water there.

And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20 T he men who took care of the cattle of Gerar argued with the men who took care of Isaac’s cattle. They said, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac gave the well the name Esek, because they argued with him.

But 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.

21 T hen his servants dug another well. And they argued about it also. So he gave it the name Sitnah.

And they dug another well, and they strove for that also; and he called the name of it Sitnah.

22 H e moved away from there and dug another well. And they did not argue about it. So he gave it the name Rehoboth. For he said, “Now the Lord has made a large place for us. We will grow much in this land.”

And 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.

23 T hen he went from there to Beersheba.

And he went up thence to Beer-sheba.

24 T he Lord showed Himself to Isaac that same night, and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring good to you, and add many to the number of your children and their children’s children, because of My servant Abraham.”

And Jehovah appeared to 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 S o Isaac built an altar there. And he called upon the name of the Lord. He put up his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

And 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.

26 T hen Abimelech came to him from Gerar, with his friend Ahuzzath, and Phicol, the leader of his army.

And Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the captain of his host, went to him from Gerar.

27 I saac said to them, “Why have you come to me when you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

And Isaac said to them, Why are ye come to me, seeing ye hate me, and have driven me away from you?

28 T hey said, “It is easy for us to see that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be a promise between us, between you and us. Let us make an agreement with you,

And 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,

29 t hat you will not hurt us in any way. For we have not touched you, and have done nothing to you but good. We sent you away in peace. And you now have the Lord’s favor.’”

that 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.

30 S o Isaac made a special supper for them, and they ate and drank.

And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

31 T hey got up early in the morning and made promises to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace.

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

32 T hat same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said to him, “We have found water.”

And 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.

33 S o he gave the well the name Shibah. So the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

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

And 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.

35 A nd they made life full of sorrow for Isaac and Rebekah.

And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebecca.