Genesis 20
20
Abraham and Abimelech
1And Abraham journeyed from #Gen. 18:1there to the South, and dwelt between #Gen. 12:9; 16:7, 14Kadesh and Shur, and #Gen. 26:1, 6stayed in Gerar. 2Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, #Gen. 12:11–13; 26:7“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and #Gen. 12:15took Sarah.
3But #Ps. 105:14God came to Abimelech #Job 33:15in a dream by night, and said to him, #Gen. 20:7“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
4But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, #Gen. 18:23–25; Num. 16:22will You slay a righteous nation also? 5Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ #1 Kin. 9:4; 2 Kin. 20:3; Ps. 7:8; 26:6In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
6And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For #Gen. 31:7; 35:5; Ex. 34:24; 1 Sam. 25:26, 34I also withheld you from sinning #Gen. 39:9; 2 Sam. 12:13against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; #1 Sam. 7:5; 2 Kin. 5:11; Job 42:8; James 5:14, 15for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, #Gen. 2:17know that you shall surely die, you #Num. 16:32, 33and all who are yours.”
8So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, #Gen. 26:10; 39:9; Ex. 32:21; Josh. 7:25that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me #Gen. 34:7that ought not to be done.” 10Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”
11And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely #Gen. 42:18; Neh. 5:15; Ps. 36:1; Prov. 16:6the fear of God is not in this place; and #Gen. 12:12; 26:7they will kill me on account of my wife. 12But indeed #Gen. 11:29she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13And it came to pass, when #Gen. 12:1–9, 11; (Heb. 11:8)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, #Gen. 12:13; 20:5say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
14Then Abimelech #Gen. 12:16took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15And Abimelech said, “See, #Gen. 13:9; 34:10; 47:6my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; #Gen. 26:11indeed this vindicates you #Mal. 2:9before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked.
17So Abraham prayed #Num. 12:13; 21:7; Job 42:9; (James 5:16)to God; and God #Gen. 21:2healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18for the Lord #Gen. 12:17had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
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Genesis 20: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 20
20
Abraham Goes to Gerar
1Abraham left that place and traveled to the Negev. He settled in the city of Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur. While in Gerar, 2Abraham told people that Sarah was his sister. King Abimelech of Gerar heard this. Abimelech wanted Sarah, so he sent some servants to take her. 3But one night God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and said, “You will die. The woman you took is married.”
4But Abimelech had not yet slept with Sarah, so he said, “Lord, I am not guilty. Would you kill an innocent man? 5Abraham himself told me, ‘This woman is my sister,’ and she also said, ‘This man is my brother.’ I am innocent. I did not know what I was doing.”
6Then God said to Abimelech in a dream, “Yes, I know that you are innocent and that you did not know what you were doing. I saved you. I did not allow you to sin against me. I was the one who did not allow you to sleep with her. 7So give Abraham his wife again. He is a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you don’t give Sarah back to him, I promise that you will die. And all your family will die with you.”
8So very early the next morning, Abimelech called all his servants and told them about the dream. The servants were very afraid. 9Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “Why have you done this to us? What wrong did I do to you? Why did you lie and say that she was your sister? You brought great trouble to my kingdom. You should not have done this to me. 10What were you afraid of? Why did you do this to me?”
11Then Abraham said, “I thought no one in this place respected God. I thought someone would kill me to get Sarah. 12She is my wife, but she is also my sister. She is the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother. 13God led me away from my father’s house. He led me to wander to many different places. When that happened, I told Sarah, ‘Do something for me. Wherever we go, tell people you are my sister.’”
14So Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham. Abimelech also gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and slaves. 15And Abimelech said, “Look all around you. This is my land. You may live any place you want.”
16Abimelech said to Sarah, “I gave your brother Abraham 1000 pieces of silver. I did this to show that I am very sorry. I want everyone to see that I did the right thing.”
17-18The Lord made all the women in Abimelech’s family not able to have children. God did this because Abimelech had taken Sarah, Abraham’s wife. But Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his servant girls.
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