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, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto 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 the LORD appeared unto him and said, Do not go down into Egypt; dwell in the land which 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.

abide in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will confirm 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 make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these lands, and in thy seed shall all the Gentiles of the earth be blessed

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

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

6 S o Isaac stayed in Gerar.

¶ Therefore Isaac dwelt in 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 that 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 for Rebekah because she was fair to look upon.

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 a long time that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking out a window, saw Isaac sporting with Rebekah, 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.”

And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how didst thou say, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because 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 unto us? One of the people might easily have slept with thy wife, and thou should have brought the sin upon us.

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

Then Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall surely 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.

¶ Then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year one hundred-fold, and the LORD blessed him.

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

And the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great,

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

for he had possession of flocks, possession of herds, great store 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.

For all the wells which his father’s slaves had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had 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 unto 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 from there and pitched his tent 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 reopened the wells of water, which they had opened in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up 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 slaves dug in the valley and found there a well of living waters.

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.

And the pastors of Gerar strove with Isaac’s pastors, saying, The water is ours; therefore he called the name of the well Esek, because they strove 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 opened another well and strove for that one 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 left there and opened another well; and for that one they did not strive and he called the name of it Rehoboth, and he said, For now the LORD 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 from there unto Beersheba.

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 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 multiply thy seed for my slave 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 the LORD and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s slaves opened a well.

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

¶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army.

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 unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have sent 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 have seen certainly that the LORD is with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even 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 hurt, as we have not touched thee and as we have done unto thee nothing but good and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD.

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

And he made them a banquet, 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 up 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 slaves came and told him concerning the well which they had opened and said unto 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 Beersheba unto 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 to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon, the Hittite:

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

Who were bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.