1And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines , unto Gerar . 2And Jehovah appeared unto him , and said, Go not down into 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 sware 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 in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; 5because that Abraham obeyed 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 , said he , the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah ; because she was 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 .
The Reopening of Abraham's Wells
12And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold : and Jehovah 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 , and filled 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 springing water . 20And the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Isaac ’s herdsmen , 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 Jehovah hath made room for us , and we shall be fruitful in the land.
God's Assurance to Isaac
23And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24And Jehovah 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 . 25And he builded an altar there , and called upon the name of Jehovah , and pitched his tent there : and there Isaac ’s servants digged a well.
The Treaty with Abimelech
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 Jehovah 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 Jehovah . 30And he made them a feast , and they did eat and drink . 31And they rose up betimes in the morning , and sware 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 grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah .