Now Abraham journeyed
from athere
toward the land
of bthe 1Negev
, and 2settled
between
Kadesh
and Shur
; then he sojourned
in cGerar
.
Abraham said
of Sarah
his wife
, " aShe is my sister
." So bAbimelech
king
of Gerar
sent
and took
Sarah
.
aBut God came
to Abimelech
in a dream
of the night
, and said
to him, "Behold
, byou are a dead
man because
of the woman
whom
you have taken
, for she is 1married
."
Now Abimelech had not come
near
her; and he said
, "Lord
, awill You slay
a nation
, even
though 1blameless
?
"Did he not himself say
to me, `She is my sister
'? And she aherself
said
, `He is my brother
.' In bthe integrity
of my heart
and the innocence
of my 1hands
I have done
this
."
Then God said
to him in the dream
, "Yes
, I know
that in the integrity
of your heart
you have done
this
, and I also
1 akept
you from sinning
against Me; therefore
I did not let
you touch
her.
"Now therefore, restore
the man's
wife
, for ahe is a prophet
, and he will pray
for you and you will live
. But if
you do not restore
her, know
that you shall surely
die
, you and all
who
are yours."
So Abimelech arose
early
in the morning
and called
all
his servants
and told
all
these
things
in their hearing
; and the men
were greatly
frightened
.
aThen Abimelech called
Abraham
and said
to him, "What
have you done
to us? And 1how
have I sinned
against you, that you have brought
on me and on my kingdom
ba great
sin
? You have done
to me 2things
that ought not to be done
."
And Abimelech said
to Abraham
, "What
have you 1encountered
, that you have done
this
thing
?"
Abraham said
, "Because
I thought
, surely
there
is no
afear
of God
in this
place
, and bthey will kill
me because
of my wife
.
"Besides, she actually
is my sister
, the daughter
of my father
, but not the daughter
of my mother
, and she became
my wife
;
and it came about, when
aGod
caused me to wander
from my father's
house
, that I said
to her, `This
is 1the kindness
which
you will show
to me: 2everywhere
we go
, bsay
of me, "He is my brother
.""'
aAbimelech then took
sheep
and oxen
and male
and female
servants
, and gave
them to Abraham
, and restored
his wife
Sarah
to him.
Abimelech said
, " aBehold
, my land
is before
you; 1settle
wherever 2you please
."
To Sarah he said
, "Behold
, I have given
your abrother
a thousand
pieces of silver
; behold
, it is 1your vindication
before all
who
are with you, and before
all
men
you are cleared
."
aAbraham prayed
to God
, and God
healed
Abimelech
and his wife
and his maids
, so that they bore
children.
aFor the LORD had closed
fast
all
the wombs
of the household
of Abimelech
because
of Sarah
, Abraham's
wife
.