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.
Currently Selected:
Genesis 20: ERV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 20
20
1 Abraham advanced from there into the southern land, and he lived between Kadesh and Shur. And he sojourned in Gerar.
2 And he said about his wife Sarah: "She is my sister." Therefore, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent for her and took her.
3 Then God came to Abimelech through a dream in the night, and he said to him: "Lo, you shall die because of the woman that you have taken. For she has a husband."
4 In truth, Abimelech had not touched her, and so he said: "Lord, would you put to death a people, ignorant and just?
5 Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and did she not say, 'He is my brother?' In the sincerity of my heart and the purity of my hands, I have done this."
6 And God said to him: "And I know that you have acted with a sincere heart. And therefore I kept you from sinning against me, and I did not release you to touch her.
7 Now therefore, return his wife to the man, for he is a prophet. And he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you are not willing to return her, know this: you shall die a death, you and all that is yours."
8 And immediately Abimelech, rising up in the night, called all his servants. And he spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were very afraid.
9 Then Abimelech called also for Abraham, and he said to him: "What have you done to us? How have we sinned against you, so that you would bring so great a sin upon me and upon my kingdom? You have done to us what you ought not to have done."
10 And remonstrating him again, he said, "What did you see, so that you would do this?"
11 Abraham responded: "I thought to myself, saying: Perhaps there is no fear of God in this place. And they will put me to death because of my wife.
12 Yet, in another way, she is also truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her as a wife.
13 Then, after God led me out of my father's house, I said to her: 'You will show this mercy to me. In every place, to which we will travel, you will say that I am your brother.' "
14 Therefore, Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men servants and women servants, and he gave them to Abraham. And he returned his wife Sarah to him.
15 And he said, "The land is in your sight. Dwell wherever it will please you."
16 Then to Sarah he said: "Behold, I have given your brother one thousand silver coins. This will be for you as a veil for your eyes, to all who are with you and wherever you will travel. And so, remember that you were taken."
17 Then when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they gave birth.
18 For the Lord had closed every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in