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 HaShem appeared unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto
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 lands, and I
will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father;
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;
5 because that Abraham hearkened to 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: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the
place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is 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 because of her.'
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.'
11 And Abimelech charged all the people, saying: 'He that
toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.'
12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in
the same year a hundred-fold; and HaShem blessed him.
13 And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he
became very great.
14 And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of
herds, and a great household; and the Philistines envied him.
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.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac: 'Go from us; for thou art
much mightier than we.'
17 And Isaac departed thence, and encamped 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 living water.
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.
21 And they digged another well, and they 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 HaShem 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 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.'
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 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his
friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.
27 And Isaac said unto them: 'Wherefore are ye come unto me,
seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?'
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;
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.'
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
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.
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 Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is
Beer-sheba unto this day.
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.
35 And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to
Rebekah.
Sources: Portions copyright © 1997 by Benyamin Pilant, All Rights Reserved
JPS Electronic Edition, based on the 1917 JPS translation, Copyright © 1998 by Larry Nelson, All Rights Reserved
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