²²Then Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. ²³So make a promise to me here before God that you will be fair with me and my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger—as kind as I have been to you.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I promise.” ²⁵Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about Abimelech’s servants who had seized a well of water.

²⁶But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me about this before today.”

²⁷Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and they made an agreement. ²⁸Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.

²⁹Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?”

³⁰Abraham answered, “Accept these lambs from me to prove that you believe I dug this well.”

³¹So that place was called Beersheba ⁿ because they made a promise to each other there.

³²After Abraham and Abimelech made the agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever.

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Footnotes

nBeersheba This name means “well of the promise” or “well of seven.”