Isaac and the Wells of Gerar

Another famine strikes the land, and Isaac goes to Gerar, to Abimelech, king of the Philistines. The LORD appears to him: “Do not go down to Egypt… I will be with you, and I will bless you.” But Isaac repeats his father’s mistake: out of fear, he passes Rebekah off as his sister. Abimelech, looking out a window, sees him caressing her and exposes him. Isaac sows seed and reaps a hundredfold, because the LORD blesses him. Out of envy, the Philistines stop up the wells dug in the days of Abraham, and Abimelech sends him away. Isaac patiently digs them out again. His herdsmen find a well of fresh water; the herdsmen of Gerar quarrel over it: it is called Esek. A second well, Sitnah, is also disputed. Isaac moves on and digs a third well, without a quarrel: Rehoboth, “for now the LORD has made room for us.” At Beersheba, God reassures him, and Abimelech himself comes to ask for a covenant.