Genesis 26:1-13 ▼

1 Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham's lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

2 That's when the LORD appeared to Isaac. |You are not to go down to Egypt,| he said. |Instead, you are to settle down in an area within this land where I'll tell you.

3 Remain in this land, and I'll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham.

4 I'll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I'll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.

5 I'm going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws.|

6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.

7 Later on, the men of that place asked about his wife, so he replied, |She's my sister,| because he was afraid to call her |my wife.| He kept thinking, |...otherwise, the men around here will kill me on account of Rebekah, since she's very beautiful.|

8 After he had been there awhile, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

9 So Abimelech called Isaac and confronted him. |She is definitely your wife!| he accused him, |So why did you claim, 'She's my sister?'| Isaac responded, |Because I had thought '...otherwise, I'll die on account of her.'|

10 |What have you done to us?| Abimelech asked. |Any minute now, one of the people could have had sex with your wife and you would have caused all of us to be guilty.|

11 So he issued this order to everyone: |Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed.|

12 Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received, because the LORD blessed him.

13 He became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth, becoming more and more wealthy.