Genesis 26:1–11

The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac

26There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. ^oAnd Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. ^p2The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; ³stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. ^qFor I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, ^rand I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. ^s4I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed ^tby your offspring, ^u5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.” ^v6So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Isaac’s Deception

⁷When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” ^wfor he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, ^x“The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.” ^y8When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see ^zIsaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

¹⁰Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” ^a11So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”