Genesis 26
New King James Version
Isaac and Abimelech
26 There was a famine in the land, besides (A)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to (B)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: (C)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in (D)the land of which I shall tell you. 3 (E)Dwell in this land, and (F)I will be with you and (G)bless you; for to you and your descendants (H)I give all these lands, and I will perform (I)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And (J)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; (K)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 (L)because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And (M)he said, “She is my sister”; for (N)he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is (O)beautiful to behold.” 8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, [a]showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”
10 And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and (P)you would have brought guilt on us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who (Q)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year (R)a hundredfold; and the Lord (S)blessed him. 13 The man (T)began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines (U)envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells (V)which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for (W)you are much mightier than we.”
17 Then Isaac departed from there and [b]pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. (X)He called them by the names which his father had called them.
19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar (Y)quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well [c]Esek, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name [d]Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name [e]Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall (Z)be fruitful in the land.”
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord (AA)appeared to him the same night and said, (AB)“I am the God of your father Abraham; (AC)do not fear, for (AD)I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he (AE)built an altar there and (AF)called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, (AG)and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, (AH)since you hate me and have (AI)sent me away from you?”
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord (AJ)is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a [f]covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. (AK)You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”
30 (AL)So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and (AM)swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 So he called it [g]Shebah. (AN)Therefore the name of the city is [h]Beersheba to this day.
34 (AO)When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And (AP)they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 26:8 caressing
- Genesis 26:17 camped
- Genesis 26:20 Lit. Quarrel
- Genesis 26:21 Lit. Enmity
- Genesis 26:22 Lit. Spaciousness
- Genesis 26:28 treaty
- Genesis 26:33 Lit. Oath or Seven
- Genesis 26:33 Lit. Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven
Génesis 26
Nueva Versión Internacional
Isaac y Abimélec
26 En ese tiempo hubo mucha hambre en aquella región, además de la que hubo en tiempos de Abraham. Por eso Isaac se fue a Guerar, donde se encontraba Abimélec, rey de los filisteos. 2 Allí el Señor se apareció y le dijo: «No vayas a Egipto. Quédate en la región de la que te voy a hablar. 3 Vive en ese lugar por un tiempo. Yo estaré contigo y te bendeciré, porque a ti y a tu descendencia daré todas esas tierras. Así confirmaré el juramento que hice a tu padre Abraham. 4 Multiplicaré a tus descendientes como las estrellas del cielo y les daré todas esas tierras. Por medio de tu descendencia todas las naciones de la tierra serán bendecidas, 5 porque Abraham me obedeció y cumplió mis órdenes y mis mandamientos, mis estatutos y mis leyes».
6 Isaac se quedó en Guerar.
7 Y cuando la gente del lugar preguntaba a Isaac acerca de su esposa, él respondía que ella era su hermana. Tan bella era Rebeca que Isaac tenía miedo de decir que era su esposa, pues pensaba que por causa de ella podrían matarlo.
8 Isaac vivió allí un largo tiempo. Un día, Abimélec, el rey de los filisteos, miraba por una ventana, vio a Isaac acariciando a su esposa Rebeca. 9 Entonces mandó llamar a Isaac y le dijo:
—¡Conque ella es tu esposa! ¿Por qué dijiste que era tu hermana?
—Yo pensé que por causa de ella podrían matarme —contestó Isaac.
10 —¿Por qué nos hiciste esto? —respondió Abimélec—. Alguno de nosotros podría haberse acostado con tu esposa, ¡y tú nos habrías hecho a todos culpables de ese pecado!
11 Por eso Abimélec envió esta orden a todo el pueblo:
—Si alguien molesta a este hombre o a su esposa, será condenado a muerte.
12 Isaac sembró en aquella región y ese año cosechó al ciento por uno, porque el Señor lo había bendecido. 13 Así Isaac fue acumulando riquezas, hasta que llegó a ser muy rico. 14 Esto causó que los filisteos comenzaran a tenerle envidia, pues llegó a tener muchas ovejas, vacas y siervos. 15 Ahora bien, los filisteos habían cegado todos los pozos de agua que los siervos del padre de Isaac habían cavado. 16 Así que Abimélec dijo a Isaac:
—Aléjate de nosotros, pues ya eres más poderoso que nosotros.
17 Isaac se fue de allí y acampó en el valle de Guerar, donde se quedó a vivir. 18 Abrió nuevamente los pozos de agua que habían sido cavados en tiempos de su padre Abraham y que los filisteos habían tapado después de su muerte. Entonces les puso los mismos nombres que su padre les había dado.
19 Cierta vez, cuando los siervos de Isaac estaban cavando en el valle, encontraron un manantial. 20 Pero los pastores de Guerar discutieron acaloradamente con los pastores de Isaac, alegando que el agua era de ellos. Por eso Isaac llamó a ese pozo Esek,[a] porque habían peleado con él. 21 Después sus siervos cavaron otro pozo, por el cual también discutieron. Por eso Isaac lo llamó Sitna.[b] 22 Entonces Isaac se fue de allí y cavó otro pozo, pero esta vez no hubo ninguna discusión. A este pozo lo llamó Rejobot[c] y dijo: «El Señor nos ha dado mucho espacio para que prosperemos en esta región».
23 De allí Isaac se dirigió a Berseba. 24 Esa noche se apareció el Señor y le dijo: «Yo soy el Dios de tu padre Abraham. No temas, que yo estoy contigo. Por amor a mi siervo Abraham, te bendeciré y multiplicaré tu descendencia».
25 Allí Isaac construyó un altar e invocó el nombre del Señor. Acampó en ese lugar y sus siervos cavaron un pozo.
26 Cierto día, Abimélec fue a ver a Isaac desde Guerar. Llegó acompañado de su consejero Ajuzat y de Ficol, el comandante de su ejército. 27 Isaac preguntó:
—Si tanto me odian, que hasta me echaron de su tierra, ¿para qué vienen a verme?
28 —Nos hemos dado cuenta de que el Señor está contigo —respondieron—. Por eso, queremos proponerte que hagamos entre nosotros un trato bajo juramento. Ese pacto será el siguiente: 29 Tú no nos harás ningún daño, ya que nosotros no te hemos perjudicado, sino que te hemos tratado bien y te hemos dejado ir en paz. ¡Ahora el bendecido del Señor eres tú!
30 Isaac les preparó un banquete y comieron y bebieron. 31 A la mañana siguiente se levantaron muy temprano e hicieron un compromiso mutuo. Luego Isaac los despidió y ellos se fueron en paz.
32 Aquel mismo día, los siervos de Isaac fueron y le informaron acerca de un pozo que habían cavado y dijeron:
—¡Hemos encontrado agua!
33 Isaac llamó a ese pozo Juramento.[d] Por eso la ciudad se llama Berseba[e] hasta el día de hoy.
Isaac bendice a Jacob
34 Esaú tenía cuarenta años cuando se casó con Judit hija de Beerí, el hitita. También se casó con Basemat, hija de un hitita llamado Elón. 35 Estas dos mujeres causaron mucha amargura a Isaac y a Rebeca.
Genesis 26
English Standard Version
God's Promise to Isaac
26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides (A)the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to (B)Abimelech king of the (C)Philistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell (D)in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 (E)Sojourn in this land, and (F)I will be with you and will bless you, for (G)to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish (H)the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 (I)I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And (J)in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because (K)Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Isaac and Abimelech
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, (L)he said, “She is my sister,” for (M)he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because (N)she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with[a] Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and (O)you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord (P)blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines (Q)envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells (R)that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And (S)he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar (T)quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,[b] because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.[c] 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,[d] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, (U)“I am the God of Abraham your father. (V)Fear not, for (W)I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25 So he (X)built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.
26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and (Y)Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and (Z)have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. (AA)You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and (AB)exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah;[e] therefore the name of the city is (AC)Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took (AD)Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and (AE)they made life bitter[f] for Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship
- Genesis 26:20 Esek means contention
- Genesis 26:21 Sitnah means enmity
- Genesis 26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room
- Genesis 26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath
- Genesis 26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Santa Biblia, NUEVA VERSIÓN INTERNACIONAL® NVI® © 1999, 2015, 2022 por Biblica, Inc.®, Inc.® Usado con permiso de Biblica, Inc.® Reservados todos los derechos en todo el mundo. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.


