Genesis 26 in Puritan & Reformed Writings

[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. [2] And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: [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 countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; [4] And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; [5] Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. [6] And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: [7] And the men of the 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] 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. [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 for her. [10] And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. [11] And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. [12] Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. [13] And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: [14] For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. [15] For 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. [16] And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. [17] And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. [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. [19] And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. [20] And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. [21] And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. [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 the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. [23] And he went up from thence to Beer–sheba. [24] 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 servant Abraham’s sake. [25] And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well. [26] Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. [27] And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? [28] And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; [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 the Lord. [30] And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. [31] And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. [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. [33] And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer–sheba unto this day. [34] 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] Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.