1Now, another famine struck the land, like the one in Abraham’s time. Isaac traveled to Gerar where Abimelech was the Philistine king.
2Yahweh appeared before Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Stay in the land that I will reveal to you.
3Live there as a foreigner, and my presence will be with you. I promise to bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will fulfill the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will one day give them all these lands. I will bless all the nations of the earth through your offspring
5because Abraham was faithful to me. He listened to my voice and yielded his heart to follow my direction. He kept my commandments, my instructions, and my teachings.”
6So Isaac settled in Gerar.
7The men of the land noticed Rebekah’s beauty and asked Isaac about her. “Oh, she’s just my sister,” he replied. Rebekah was indeed very beautiful, and he was afraid to tell them, “She’s my wife,” for he thought that the men of the land would kill him and take his wife.
8One day, after Isaac had lived there awhile, the Philistine king Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac affectionately caressing his wife Rebekah.
9So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “So, this woman is your wife! Why did you say that she was your sister?”
“Because I thought the men of the land would kill me and take her,” Isaac said.
10“Don’t you realize what you’ve done to us?” Abimelech asked. “One of our men might have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and punishment upon us!”
11So Abimelech issued a stern warning to all the people, saying, “Whoever lays a hand on this man or his wife shall be put to death!”
Isaac Becomes Very Wealthy12Isaac planted crops in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundred-fold harvest, for Yahweh greatly blessed him!
13Isaac grew richer and richer until he was extremely wealthy.
14He acquired so many flocks and herds and so many servants that the Philistines grew jealous,
15so the Philistines stopped up all of Isaac’s wells and filled them with dirt—the same wells his father’s servants had dug in the time of Abraham.
16Eventually Abimelech’s jealousy got the better of him, and he said to Isaac, “You must leave us! You have become too rich and powerful for us!”
17So Isaac departed from Abimelech’s domain and camped near the Wadi of Gerar, where he settled.
Isaac Digs New Wells18Isaac reopened and restored the wells his father Abraham had originally dug—the wells the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death. And Isaac gave these wells the same names that his father had given them.
19One day, when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, they uncovered a spring-fed well.
20But the herdsmen of Gerar picked a fight with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “That’s our well!” So Isaac named the well Argument because of the sharp contention.
21They dug a second well, and it also caused a quarrel, so Isaac named that well Hostility.
22Then he pulled up stakes from there and dug a third well, but this one was dug without any quarreling, so Isaac named it Spacious, saying, “Finally, Yahweh has made ample room for us and we will become prosperous in the land!”
23From there, Isaac moved his camp to Beersheba.
24That very night, Yahweh appeared before him and said:
“I am the God of Abraham your father.
You will never need to fear a thing for I am with you
and I will greatly bless you.
Your children will flourish and succeed
because of the promises I gave my servant Abraham.”
25So Isaac built an altar, prayed, and worshiped Yahweh there. He pitched his tent there, and his servants started digging another well.
26Then King Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol.
27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me now, since you hated me and sent me away?”
28They answered, “We have witnessed firsthand how powerfully Yahweh’s favor has been with you, so we say, let there be a peace treaty among us. Let us make a covenant
29to do each other no harm. Swear to us that you will not trouble us, just as we have not troubled you and have always treated you well and sent you away in peace. Now look at how Yahweh has blessed you!”
30So Isaac prepared a wonderful feast for them, and they all ate and drank together.
31Then the next morning, they got up early and exchanged oaths. Isaac said goodbye to them, and they left Isaac in peace.
32Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came with wonderful news about the well they had dug, saying, “We’ve just found water!”
33So he named it Oath. This is why the city where they dug the well is called Beersheba to this day.
The Hittite Wives of Esau34When Esau was forty, he married two Hittite women, Judith the daughter of Beeri and Basemath the daughter of Elon.
35They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
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