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[1]Andthere was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Wherefore Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
[2]Forthe Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt, but abide in the land which I shall show unto thee.
[3]Dwellin this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee, and to thy seed I will give all these countries: and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father.
[4]AlsoI will cause thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
[5]Becausethat Abraham obeyed my voice and kept mine ordinance, my commandments, my statutes, and my Laws.
[6]SoIsaac dwelt in Gerar.
[7]Andthe men of the place asked 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, because of Rebekah: for she was beautiful to the eye.
[8]Soafter he had been there long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and lo, he saw Isaac sporting with Rebekah his wife.
[9]ThenAbimelech called Isaac, and said, Lo, she is of a surety thy wife, and why sayest thou, She is my sister? To whom Isaac answered, Because I thought this, It may be that I shall die for her.
[10]ThenAbimelech said, Why hast thou done this unto us? One of the people had almost lain by thy wife, so shouldest thou have brought sin upon us.
[11]ThenAbimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, or his wife, shall die the death.
[12]AfterwardIsaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year an hundred fold by estimation: and so the Lord blessed him.
[13]Andthe man waxed mighty, and still increased, till he was exceeding great,
[14]Forhe had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and a mighty household: therefore the Philistines had envy at him.
[15]Inso much that the Philistines stopped and filled up with earth all the wells, which his father's servants digged in his father Abraham's time.
[16]ThenAbimelech said unto Isaac, Get thee from us, for thou art mightier than we a great deal.
[17]ThereforeIsaac departed thence and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
[18]AndIsaac returning, digged 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 gave them the same names, which his father gave them.
[19]Isaac'sservants then digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water.
[20]Butthe herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: therefore called he the name of the well Esek, because they were at strife with him.
[21]Afterwardthey digged another well, and strove for that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah.
[22]Thenhe removed thence, and digged another well, for the which they strove not: therefore called he the name of it Rehoboth, and said, Because the Lord hath now made us room, we shall increase upon the earth.
[23]Sohe went up thence to Beer-sheba.
[24]Andthe Lord appeared 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 will multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
[25]Thenhe built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and there spread his tent: where also Isaac's servants digged a well.
[26]Thencame Abimelech to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the captain of his army.
[27]Towhom Isaac said, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have put me away from you?
[28]Whoanswered, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee, and we thought thus, Let there be now an oath between us , even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee.
[29]Thoushalt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and sent thee away in peace: thou now, the blessed of the Lord , do this.
[30]Thenhe made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
[31]Andthey rose up betimes in the morning, and swear one to another: then Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
[32]Andthat same day Isaac's servants came and told him of a well, which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
[33]Sohe called it Shibah: therefore the name of the city is called Beer-sheba unto this day.
[34]Nowwhen Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri an Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon an Hittite also.
[35]Andthey were a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebekah.
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