Genesis 26:1-11

Now, another famine struck the land, like the one in Abraham’s time. Isaac traveled to Gerar where Abimelech was the Philistine king. YAHWEH appeared before Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Stay in the land that I will reveal to you. Live there as a foreigner, and my presence will be with you. I promise to bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will fulfill the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will one day give them all these lands. I will bless all the nations of the earth through your offspring because Abraham was faithful to me. He listened to my voice and yielded his heart to follow my direction. He kept my commandments, my instructions, and my teachings.” So Isaac settled in Gerar. The men of the land noticed Rebekah’s beauty and asked Isaac about her. “Oh, she’s just my sister,” he replied. Rebekah was indeed very beautiful, and he was afraid to tell them, “She’s my wife,” for he thought that the men of the land would kill him and take his wife. One day, after Isaac had lived there awhile, the Philistine king Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac affectionately caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “So, this woman is your wife! Why did you say that she was your sister?” “Because I thought the men of the land would kill me and take her,” Isaac said. “Don’t you realize what you’ve done to us?” Abimelech asked. “One of our men might have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and punishment upon us!” So Abimelech issued a stern warning to all the people, saying, “Whoever lays a hand on this man or his wife shall be put to death!”

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