17. So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent 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 by which his father had called them.
19. Now Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water.
20. And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him.
21. Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity].
22. And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23. Now he went up from there to Beersheba.
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 favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.
25. And [Isaac] built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants were digging a well.
26. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his friends, and Phicol, his army's commander.
27. And 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 saw that the Lord was certainly with you; so we said, Let there be now an oath between us [carrying a curse with it to befall the one who breaks it], even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you
29. That you will do us no harm, inasmuch 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 or favored of the Lord!
30. And he made them a [formal] dinner, and they ate and drank.
31. And they rose up early in the morning and took oaths [with a curse] with one another; and Isaac sent 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 they had dug, saying, We have found water!
33. And he named [the well] Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba [well of the oath] to this day. [Gen. 21:31.]