And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine which had occurred in the time of Abraham; and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines at Gerar. 2 Then Yehowah appeared to him, and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land which I shall tell you of. 3 Settle in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for I will give all these lands to you and your descendants; and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6 So Isaac lived at Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife; and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, My wife, in case, he said, the men of the place kill me on account of Rebekah; because she was attractive. 8 And his stay in that place was lengthened; and Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out through a window; and he saw that Isaac was fondling* Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac, and said, So then, she is your wife; so why did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Perhaps I shall die because of her. 10 And Abimelech said, What have you done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us. 11 And Abimelech commanded all the people, and said, He who touches this man or his wife shall certainly be put to death. * Or laughing with

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he harvested a hundredfold; and Yehowah blessed him. 13 And the man became great, and continued to flourish until he became very great; 14 and he gained possession of flocks and herds, and many slaves; and the Philistines envied him. 15 And the Philistines had stopped up and filled with soil all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the time of Abraham his father. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us; for you are much mightier than us.

17 So Isaac departed from there, and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18 And Isaac dug again* the wells of water which they had dug in the time of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he called them by the names by which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac's slaves dug in the valley, and found there a well of spring** water. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar disputed with Isaac's herdsmen, and said, The water is ours; and he named the well Esek;*** because they disputed with him. 21 And they dug another well, and disputed for that also; and he named it Sitnah.**** 22 And he removed from there, and dug another well; and over that one they did not dispute; so he named it Rehoboth;***** and he said, For now Yehowah has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. * lit returned and dug ** lit living *** That is Dispute **** That is Enmity ***** That is Broad places

23 And he moved from there to Beer-sheba. 24 And Yehowah appeared to him during that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father; do not be afraid, for I am with you; and I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of Abraham my servant. 25 And he built an altar there, and called on the name of Yehowah, and pitched his tent there; and Isaac's slaves dug a well there.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal friend and Pikhol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you? 28 And they said, We can see clearly that Yehowah is with you; and we said, Let there now be a sworn agreement between us, between us and you, and let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will not do evil to us, since we have not touched you, and since we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of Yehowah. 30 So he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 And they got up early in the morning, and took an oath with each other; and Isaac dismissed them, and they went from him in peace. 32 And that same day Isaac's slaves came and gave him an account of a well which they had dug; and they told him, We have found water. 33 And he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba* to this day. * That is Well of an oath

34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took for a wife Judith the daughter of Been the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they caused bitterness of spirit in Isaac and Rebekah.