1And there was a famine in the land, besides that first famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech, king of the Philistines. 2And the LORD appeared to Isaac, and said, “Do not go down into Egypt; stay in the land that I shall tell you of. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for I will give all these countries to you, and to your descendants, and I will keep my promise and oath which I swore to Abraham, your father; 4And I will cause your descendants to multiply like the stars of heaven, and will give to them all these countries; and through your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My decrees, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” 6And so Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

7And the men of the place asked him about his wife; and he said, “She is my sister;” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife” for fear that the men there would kill him for Rebekah; because she was very attractive. 8And when he had been there a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines looked out a window, and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah, his wife. 9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Look, it is clear to me that she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’” And Isaac told him, “Because I was afraid they might kill me for her.” 10And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might well have slept with your wife, and you should have brought guilt upon us.” 11And Abimelech told all his people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12When Isaac planted crop seed in that land that year, he reaped a hundred times more than he planted, because the LORD blessed him. 13And his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy; 14For he had acquired many flocks, herds, and servants; and the Philistines envied him. 15And so the Philistines had stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father, Abraham, had dug in his days, filling them with dirt. 16And Abimelech told Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too numerous and powerful for us.” 17And so Isaac left there, and settled in the valley of Gerar.

18And Isaac re-opened the wells that had been dug in the days of Abraham, his father; and that the Philistines had plugged up after Abraham died: and he named them the same as his father had named them. 19And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and discovered a well of springing water there. 20But the herdsmen of Gerar disputed with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “That water is ours;” and so he named that well “Esek” (which means ‘argument’); because they argued with him. 21And they dug another well, and disputed over that well also: and he called the name of it “Sitnah” (which means ‘hostility’). 22And he moved on from there, and dug another well; and they did not argue over that well: and so he named it “Rehoboth” (which means ‘open spaces’); and Isaac said, “At last, the LORD has made room for us, and we shall flourish in the land.”

23And Isaac left there and moved to Beer-sheba. 24And the LORD appeared to him that same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham, your father: do not fear, for I am with you, and I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of Abraham, My servant.” 25And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and Isaac's servants dug yet another well there.

26Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phichol, commander of his army. 27And Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile and sent me away from you?” 28And they said, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you: and we said, ‘Let there be now a sworn agreement between us - a treaty between us and you,’ 29That you will not do us harm, just as we have not troubled you, but we have done only good to you, and have sent you away in peace; and look now how you are blessed by the LORD.” 30And Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31And early in the morning, they arose and swore an oath to one another; and Isaac sent them away in peace. 32And that same day, Isaac's servants came, and told him about the well they had dug, and said, “We have found water.” 33And he called it “Shibah” (or “Shebah”); and the name of that city is “Beer-sheba” until this day.

34And when Esau was forty years old, he took Judith, the daughter of Beeri. the Hittite; and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives: 35And Esau’s wives were a source of grief to both Isaac and to Rebekah.