⁶ Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “The men of this place might kill me for Rebekah, since she is beautiful.” ⁸ When he had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines happened to look out a window, and there was Isaac caressing Rebekah, his wife.

⁹ Abimelek called Isaac and said, “It is obvious that she is your wife. So why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘If I do not, I will die because of her.’”

¹⁰ Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

¹¹ Abimelek gave this command to all the people: “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”