Genesis 20

Sarah Rescued from Abimelech

¹From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, ^{a 2}Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” ^b So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

³But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” ^c

⁴Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy a nation even though it is innocent? ⁵Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience ^d and clean ^e hands.”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. ^f I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. ⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, ^g and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally ^h told them all these things, and the men were terrified.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” ^{i 10}Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this? ”

¹¹Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. ^j They will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. ¹³So when God had me wander from my father’s house, ^k I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me, ‘He’s my brother.’ ” ^l

¹⁴Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. ^m Settle wherever you want.” ^{n 16}And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor ^o to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, ^p and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, ¹⁸for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.