Isaac planted crops in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundred-fold harvest, for YAHWEH greatly blessed him! Isaac grew richer and richer until he was extremely wealthy. He acquired so many flocks and herds and so many servants that the Philistines grew jealous, so the Philistines stopped up all of Isaac’s wells and filled them with dirt—the same wells his father’s servants had dug in the time of Abraham. Eventually Abimelech’s jealousy got the better of him, and he said to Isaac, “You must leave us! You have become too rich and powerful for us!” So Isaac departed from Abimelech’s domain and camped near the Wadi of Gerar, where he settled.
Isaac reopened and restored the wells his father Abraham had originally dug—the wells the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death. And Isaac gave these wells the same names that his father had given them.
One day, when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, they uncovered a spring-fed well. But the herdsmen of Gerar picked a fight with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “That’s our well!” So Isaac named the well Argument because of the sharp contention. They dug a second well, and it also caused a quarrel, so Isaac named that well Hostility. Then he pulled up stakes from there and dug a third well, but this one was dug without any quarreling, so Isaac named it Spacious, saying, “Finally, YAHWEH has made ample room for us and we will become prosperous in the land!”
From there, Isaac moved his camp to Beersheba. That very night, YAHWEH appeared before him and said:
“I am the God of Abraham your father.
You will never need to fear a thing for I am with you
and I will greatly bless you.
Your children will flourish and succeed
because of the promises I gave my servant Abraham.”
So Isaac built an altar, prayed, and worshiped YAHWEH there. He pitched his tent there, and his servants started digging another well.
Then King Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me now, since you hated me and sent me away?”
They answered, “We have witnessed firsthand how powerfully YAHWEH’s favor has been with you, so we say, let there be a peace treaty among us. Let us make a covenant to do each other no harm. Swear to us that you will not trouble us, just as we have not troubled you and have always treated you well and sent you away in peace. Now look at how YAHWEH has blessed you!” So Isaac prepared a wonderful feast for them, and they all ate and drank together. Then the next morning, they got up early and exchanged oaths. Isaac said goodbye to them, and they left Isaac in peace.
Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came with wonderful news about the well they had dug, saying, “We’ve just found water!”
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