Genesis 20:1-18
Abraham and Abimelech
20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident in Gerar,
20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.”
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?
20:5 Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.
20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified.
20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!”
20:10 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’
20:12 What’s more, she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife.
20:13 When God made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.
20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.”
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your ‘brother.’ This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.”
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
20:18 For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 2:6
2:6 Springs
would well up
from the earth and water
the whole surface of the ground.
Genesis 3:10
3:10 The man replied,
“I heard you moving about
in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
Genesis 6:12
6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed
it was ruined,
for all living creatures
on the earth were sinful.
Hebrews 8:5
8:5 The place where they serve is
a sketch
and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “
See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain.”
Hebrews 9:23
9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches
of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices,
but the heavenly things themselves required
better sacrifices than these.