JPS - Genesis - 26

26:1  And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

26:2  And HaShem appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.

26:3  Sojourn 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 establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father;

26:4  and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves;

26:5  because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.'

26:6  And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

26:7  And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.'

26:8  And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

26:9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said: 'Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou: She is my sister?' And Isaac said unto him: 'Because I said: Lest I die because of her.'

26:10  And Abimelech said: 'What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.'

26:11  And Abimelech charged all the people, saying: 'He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.'

26:12  And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundred-fold; and HaShem blessed him.

26:13  And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great.

26:14  And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household; and the Philistines envied him.

26:15  Now all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

26:16  And Abimelech said unto Isaac: 'Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.'

26:17  And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

26:18  And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

26:19  And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water.

26:20  And the herdmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdmen, saying: 'The water is ours.' And he called the name of the well Esek; because they contended with him.

26:21  And they digged another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it Sitnah.

26:22  And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not. And he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said: 'For now HaShem hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.'

26:23  And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

26:24  And HaShem appeared unto him the same night, and said: 'I am the G-d 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.'

26:25  And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of HaShem, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

26:26  Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.

26:27  And Isaac said unto them: 'Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?'

26:28  And they said: 'We saw plainly that HaShem was with thee; and we said: Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

26:29  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 HaShem.'

26:30  And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

26:31  And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

26:32  And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him: 'We have found water.'

26:33  And he called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

26:34  And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

26:35  And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.