Genesis 26:18-35

Modern English Version

¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names his father had called them.

¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar contended with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ They dug another well and quarreled over that also. So he called the name of it Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called the name of it Rehoboth, for he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³ He went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ 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. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

²⁵ He built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelek went to him from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ 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 saw plainly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and have done you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

³⁰ Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They rose up early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ And he called it Shibah. Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ Esau was forty years old when he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, ³⁵ and they brought grief to Isaac and to Rebekah.