1. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
2. And Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I will show to you.
3. Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father.
4. And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,
5. because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
6. So Isaac settled in Gerar.
7. When the men of the place asked concerning his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking “the men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she was beautiful.”
8. And it happened that, when he had been there a long time, Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked through the window, and saw—behold—Isaac was fondling Rebekah his wife.
9. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Surely she is your wife. Now why did you say ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I would die on account of her.”