1And there was a famine in the land besides the first famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.2The LORD appeared to him and said, "You shall not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall say to you."3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.4And I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I will give all these lands to your offspring, and in your offspring all the nations of the land will bless themselves.5Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my instructions.6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.7The men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife," lest the men of the place kill him on account of Rebekah, for she was of pleasant appearance.8And when the days had been long for him there, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through the window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife.9Abimelech called Isaac and said, "She is surely your wife; how then did you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on her account.'"10Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."11Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."12And Isaac sowed in that land and found a hundredfold in that year, and the LORD blessed him.13And the man grew and went on growing until he became very great.14And he had flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and many servants, and the Philistines envied him.15And all the wells that the servants of Abraham his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them up and filled them with dust.16Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you have become much too powerful for us."17And Isaac went from there and camped in the wadi of Gerar and dwelt there.18And Isaac returned and dug the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham, and he called them by the same names his father had called them.19And the servants of Isaac dug in the wadi and found there a well of living water.20And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours," so he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.21And they dug another well, and they quarreled over it also, so he called its name Sitnah.22And he moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he called its name Rehoboth and said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."23And he went up from there to Beersheba.24And the LORD appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father; do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring for the sake of Abraham my servant."25And he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Isaac dug a well there.26And Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his companion and Phicol the commander of his army.27And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, when you hate me and have sent me away from you?"28And they said, "We have surely seen that the LORD is with you, and we said, 'Let there be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you.'"29"If you will do us harm, just as we have not touched you and just as we have dealt only kindly with you and have sent you away in peace, you are now blessed by the LORD."30And he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.31And they rose early in the morning and swore an oath, each to his brother, and Isaac sent them away, and they went from him in peace.32And that same day the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, "We have found water."33And he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.34And when Esau was forty years old, he took a wife, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.35And they were a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.