1
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And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestines, to Gerara.
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2
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And the Lord appeared to him, and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.
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3
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And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.
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4
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And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
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5
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Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.
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6
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So Isaac abode in Gerara.
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7
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And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.
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8
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And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife.
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9
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And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.
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10
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And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:
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11
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He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.
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12
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And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
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13
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And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great.
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14
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And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,
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15
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Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth:
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16
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Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
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17
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So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:
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18
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And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by which his father before had called them.
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19
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And they digged in the torrent, and found living water:
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20
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But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.
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21
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And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.
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22
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Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.
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23
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And he went up from that place to Bersabee,
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24
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Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
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25
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And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.
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26
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To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,
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27
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Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?
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28
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And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,
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29
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That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.
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30
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And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:
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31
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Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.
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32
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And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.
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33
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Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.
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34
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And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.
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35
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And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.
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