Genesis 26:12-25

The Voice

¹² Isaac settled in and made a place for himself in the land, sowing seeds and reaping one hundred times what he had planted that year. The Eternal One indeed put a blessing on him, ¹³ and Isaac became very rich. He prospered more and more until he became enormously wealthy. ¹⁴ He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines began to envy him. ¹⁵ (For spite, some of the Philistines filled with dirt all of the wells his father’s servants had dug in the days when Abraham was living there.) ¹⁶ Even Abimelech was threatened by his prosperity.

¹⁷ Isaac left there, set up camp in the valley of Gerar, and decided to live there for a while.

¹⁸ Isaac had to re-dig all of the water wells that his father had installed because the Philistines had filled them in after Abraham’s death. He renamed them with the names his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a new well of fresh water, ²⁰ the herders of Gerar began quarreling with Isaac’s herders.

So Isaac named this well Esek, which means “contention,” because of the arguments he had with the herders. ²¹ Isaac’s men dug another well, and the water wars started again. So Isaac called it Sitnah, which means “enmity.” ²² Isaac didn’t want any more trouble, so he moved on from there and dug yet another well. At last, they didn’t quarrel over this one, so Isaac named this well Rehoboth, which means “wide spaces.”

²³ From there, Isaac traveled to Beersheba. ²⁴ The night they arrived, the Eternal One appeared to him.

²⁵ Inspired by this vision, Isaac built an altar at that place. He invoked the name of the Eternal and sacrificed to Him there, pitched his tent, and directed his servants to dig a well.