1
And Abraham journeys from there toward the land of the south, and dwells between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourns in Gerar;
2
and Abraham says concerning his wife Sarah, “She is my sister”; and Abimelech king of Gerar sends and takes Sarah.
3
And God comes to Abimelech in a dream of the night and says to him, “Behold, you [are] a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken—and she married to a husband.”
4
And Abimelech has not drawn near to her, and he says, “Lord, do you also slay a righteous nation?
5
Has he not himself said to me, She [is] my sister! And she, even she herself, said, He [is] my brother; in the integrity of my heart, and in the innocence of my hands, I have done this.”
6
And God says to him in the dream, “Indeed, I have known that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I withhold you, even I, from sinning against Me, therefore I have not permitted you to come against her;
7
and now send back the man’s wife, for he [is] inspired, and he prays for you, and you live; and if you do not send back, know that dying you die, you and all that you have.”
8
And Abimelech rises early in the morning, and calls for all his servants, and speaks all these words in their ears; and the men fear exceedingly;
9
and Abimelech calls for Abraham and says to him, “What have you done to us? And what have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me, and on my kingdom, a great sin? Works which are not done you have done with me.”
10
Abimelech also says to Abraham, “What have you seen that you have done this thing?”
11
And Abraham says, “Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they have slain me for the sake of my wife;
12
and also, she is truly my sister, daughter of my father, only not daughter of my mother, and she becomes my wife;
13
and it comes to pass, when God has caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I say to her, This [is] your kindness which you do with me: at every place to where we come, say of me, He [is] my brother.”
14
And Abimelech takes sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gives to Abraham, and sends back his wife Sarah to him;
15
and Abimelech says, “Behold, my land [is] before you, where it is good in your eyes, dwell”;
16
and to Sarah he has said, “Behold, I have given one thousand pieces of silver to your brother; behold, it is to you a covering of eyes, to all who are with you”; and by all this she is reasoned with.
17
And Abraham prays to God, and God heals Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bear:
18
for YHWH restraining had restrained every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
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