Genesis, 26

[1] And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestines, to Gerara. •

[2] And the Lord appeared to him, and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

[3] And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father. •

[4] And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. •

[5] Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws. •

[6] So Isaac abode in Gerara.

[7] And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty. •

[8] And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife. •

[9] And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

[10] And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

[11] He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death. •

[12] And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. •

[13] And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great.

[14] And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

[15] Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth:

[16] Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we. •

[17] So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

[18] And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by which his father before had called them. •

[19] And they digged in the torrent ¹, and found living water: •

[20] But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny. •

[21] And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

[22] Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude ¹, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth. •

[23] And he went up from that place to Bersabee, •

[24] Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. •

[25] And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.

[26] To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara, •

[27] Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

[28] And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

[29] That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.

[30] And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

[31] Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

[32] And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

[33] Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day. •

[34] And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place. •

[35] And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca. •