The Tanakh · JPS 1917 Translation

Genesis 26

Jewish Publication Society 1917 · Torah

Genesis chapter 26 — part of the Torah in the Jewish Bible. In the classic JPS 1917 translation it opens: “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 complete text of all 35 verses is below, free to read online.

1And 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.

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

3Sojourn 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;

4and 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;

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

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

7And 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.'

8And 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.

9And 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.'

10And 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.'

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

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

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

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

15Now 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.

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

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

18And 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.

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

20And 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.

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

22And 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.'

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

24And 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.'

25And 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.

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

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

28And 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;

29that 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.'

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

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

32And 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.'

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

34And 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.

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

35 verses · JPS 1917 (public domain)

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