Genesis 20

Jubilee Bible 2000

20 ¶ And Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur and sojourned in Gerar.

² And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

³ ¶ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Behold, thou art a dead man, for the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is a man’s wife.

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous person?

⁵ Did he not say unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother; in the simplicity of my heart and cleanness of my hands I have done this.

⁶ And God said unto him in a dream, Yes, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore I did not allow thee to touch her.

⁷ Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

⁸ ¶ Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his slaves and told all these things in their ears; and the men feared greatly.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us and in what have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom such a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What didst thou see that thou hast done this thing?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

¹² And yet indeed, she is also my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³ And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father’s house that I said unto her, This is the mercy which thou shalt show unto me: at every place where we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴ ¶ Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and menslaves and womenslaves and gave them unto Abraham and restored him Sarah his wife.

¹⁵ And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee; dwell where it pleases thee.

¹⁶ And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that were with thee and with everyone: thus she was reproved.

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants; and they bore children.

¹⁸ For the LORD had completely closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.