[1] Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been
before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the
Philistines, at Gerar. [2] And the Lord came to him in a vision and said,
Do not go down to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you
knowledge: [3] Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my
blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, giving
effect to the oath which I made to your father Abraham; [4] I will make
your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and will give them all these
lands, and your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth;
[5] Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my
orders, and my laws. [6] So Isaac went on living in Gerar; [7] And when he
was questioned by the men of the place about his wife, he said, She is my
sister; fearing to say, She is my wife; for, he said, the men of the place
may put me to death on account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.
[8] And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the
Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his
wife. [9] And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why then
did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear that I might be put
to death because of her. [10] Then Abimelech said, What have you done to
us? one of the people might well have had connection with your wife, and
the sin would have been ours. [11] And Abimelech gave orders to his people
that anyone touching Isaac or his wife was to be put to death. [12] Now
Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred
times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him. [13] And his wealth
became very great, increasing more and more; [14] For he had great wealth
of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines
were full of envy. [15] Now all the water-holes, which his father's
servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by
the Philistines. [16] And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you
are stronger than we are. [17] So Isaac went away from there, and put up
his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there. [18] And
he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham
his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave
them the names which his father had given them. [19] Now Isaac's servants
made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water. [20] But
the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The
spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a
fight about it. [21] Then they made another water-hole, and there was a
fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah. [22] Then he went away
from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting:
so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room
for us, and we will have fruit in this land. [23] And from there he went on
to Beer-sheba. [24] That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said,
I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you,
blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant
Abraham. [25] Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of
the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a
water-hole. [26] And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath
his friend and Phicol, the captain of his army. [27] And Isaac said to
them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me
away from you? [28] And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with
you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make
an agreement with you; [29] That you will do us no damage, even as we put
no hand on you, and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace:
and now the blessing of the Lord is on you. [30] Then he made a feast for
them, and they all had food and drink. [31] And early in the morning they
took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on
their way in peace. [32] And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave
him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have
come to water. [33] And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that
town is Beer-sheba to this day. [34] And when Esau was forty years old, he
took as his wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath,
the daughter of Elon the Hittite: [35] And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of
mind because of them.
