Now there was a famine in the land — not the previous famine in the time of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech, king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt; stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you.” So he stayed in Gerar.
And when the men of the city asked questions about Rebecca, he said that she was his sister, because he was afraid to say that she was his wife: he thought they would kill him and take her, because she was beautiful.
And after Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked down from his window one day and saw him making love to Rebecca. And Abimelech summoned him and said, “So she is your wife! How could you say she was your sister?”
And Isaac said to him, “I thought I would be killed because of her.”
And Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of my people might have slept with your wife, and you would have brought punishment on us all.” So Abimelech issued a command to his people: “Whoever touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”