¶ And there was a famine in the land, beside the first¹ famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac² went unto Abimelech³ king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

And the LORD appeared⁴ unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell⁵ in the land which I shall tell thee of:

Sojourn⁶ in this land, and I will be⁷ with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee,⁸ and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath⁹ which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

And I will make thy seed to multiply¹⁰ as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall¹¹ all the nations of the earth be blessed;

¹²Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

¶ And Isaac dwelt in Gerar¹³:

And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister¹⁴: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair¹⁵ to look upon.

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window¹⁶, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting¹⁷ with Rebekah his wife.

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 for her.

¶¹⁸And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth¹⁹ this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

¶ Then Isaac sowed²⁰ in that land, and received²¹ in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed²² him.

And the man waxed great²³, and went forward²⁴, and grew until he became very great:

For he had possession²⁵ of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants²⁶: and the Philistines envied him.

For all the wells which his father's²⁷ servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped²⁸ them, and filled them with earth.

And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go²⁹ from us; for thou art much mightier³⁰ than we.

And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days³¹ of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he³² called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water³³.

¶ And the herdmen of Gerar did strive³⁴ with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek³⁵; because they strove with him.

And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah³⁶.

And he removed from thence, and digged³⁷ another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth³⁸; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful³⁹ in the land.

And he went up from thence to Beersheba⁴⁰.

And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the⁴¹ God of Abraham thy father: fear⁴² not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

And he builded⁴³ an altar there, and called⁴⁴ upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

¶ Then Abimelech⁴⁵ went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol⁴⁶ the chief captain of his army.

And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing⁴⁷ ye hate me, and have sent me⁴⁸ away from you?

And they said, We saw certainly⁴⁹ that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there⁵⁰ be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

That thou wilt⁵¹ 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 blessed⁵² of the LORD.

¶⁵³And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

And they rose up betimes⁵⁴ in the morning, and sware⁵⁵ one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

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 have⁵⁶ found water.

And he called it Shebah⁵⁷: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba⁵⁸ unto this day.

¶ And Esau⁵⁹ was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter⁶⁰ of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath⁶¹ the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

Which⁶² were a grief of mind⁶³ unto Isaac and to Rebekah.