Genesis 26:12-33

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) ¹⁶ And Abim′elech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there, and encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names which his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of springing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,^[a] because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he called its name Sitnah.^{[b] 22} And he moved from there and dug another well, and over that they did not quarrel; so he called its name Reho′both,^[c] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

²³ From there he went up to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abim′elech went to him from Gerar with Ahuz′zath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see plainly that the Lord is with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. ³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.