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And there was a famine in the land,beside the firstfamine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaacwent unto Abimelechking of the Philistines unto Gerar.
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And the LORDappeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt;dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
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Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all thesecountries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
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And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all thesecountries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
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Because that Abrahamobeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
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And the men of the placeasked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
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And it came to pass, when he had been there a longtime, that Abimelechking of the Philistines looked outat a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
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And AbimelechcalledIsaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaacsaid unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
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And Abimelechsaid, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have broughtguiltiness upon us.
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And Abimelechcharged all his people,saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
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Then Isaacsowed in that land, and received[a] in the same year an hundredfold*: and the LORDblessed him.
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And the man waxed great, and went[b]forward, and grew until he becameverygreat:
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For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants:[c] and the Philistinesenvied him.
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For all the wells which his father'sservants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
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And Abimelechsaid unto Isaac,Go from us; for thou art muchmightier than we.
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And Isaacdeparted thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dweltthere.
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And Isaacdiggedagain the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
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And Isaac'sservantsdigged in the valley, and found there a well of springing[d]water.
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And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac'sherdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the wellEsek;[e] because they strove with him.
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And they diggedanotherwell, and strove for that also: and he called the name of itSitnah.[f]
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And he removed from thence, and diggedanotherwell; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of itRehoboth;[g] and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
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And the LORDappeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father:fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servantAbraham's sake.
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And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac'sservantsdigged a well.
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Then Abimelechwent to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
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And Isaacsaid unto them, Whereforecome ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
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And they said, We saw[h]certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oathbetwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
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That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing butgood, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.
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And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
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And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swareone to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
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And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac'sservantscame, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have foundwater.
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And he called it Shebah:[i] therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
34
And Esau was fortyyearsold when he took to wifeJudith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
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Which were a grief[j] of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.