Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

There was a famine in the land, apart from the first one that had occurred during Abraham's lifetime; and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, settling in Gerar.

The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down into Egypt. Instead, settle in the land I will show you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, blessing you. For to you and your descendants, I will give all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, giving to them all these lands because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, commandments, statutes, and laws."

Isaac settled in Gerar, but he told the men of the place that his wife Rebekah was his sister for fear they might kill him on her account since she was very beautiful. When Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window and saw Isaac sporting with Rebekah, he called Isaac and said, "She is certainly your wife; how could you say she's my sister?" Isaac replied that he feared death on her account.

Abimelech said, "What have you done to us? One of our people might have had relations with your wife, bringing guilt upon us." He charged all his people, saying anyone who touches Isaac or his wife will surely be put to death. Isaac sowed in that land and received a hundredfold in the same year because the Lord blessed him. He grew in wealth and influence until he became very great.

He had possession of flocks, herds, and many servants, which made the Philistines jealous. All the wells his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham were filled up by Isaac, as the Philistines had stopped and filled them with earth. Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us; you are far mightier than we." Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar.

Isaac reopened the wells of water that his father Abraham had dug, which the Philistines had blocked after Abraham's death. He restored their original names and had his servants dig in the valley where they found a well of springing water. The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen over the water, so he named the well Esek because they contended with him.

They dug another well, and quarreled over it; so he named it Contention. Isaac moved from there and dug another well which they did not dispute over, so he named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land." He went up from there to Beersheba.

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 and will bless you because of my servant Abraham. Abimelech went to Isaac from Gerar accompanied by Ahuzzath, one of his advisors, and Phichol, the commander of his army.

Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me since you despise me and sent me away from you?" They replied that they saw the Lord was with him, and they said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you. That you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you, sending you away in peace; now you are blessed by the Lord.

Isaac made them a feast, and they ate and drank. They rose up early in the morning and swore one to another; Isaac then sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. His servants came to him that same day and reported, "We have found water in the well we dug." He named it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

Esau was forty years old when he took Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives. These women were a source of sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.