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 6:1
God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness
6:1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,
Luke 16:31
16:31 He
replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to
Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Acts 13:43
13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue
had broken up,
many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading
them
to continue
in the grace of God.
Acts 18:4
18:4 He addressed
both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue
every Sabbath, attempting to persuade
them.
Acts 18:13
18:13 saying, “This man is persuading
people to worship God in a way contrary to
the law!”
Acts 19:26
19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded
and turned away
a large crowd,
not only in Ephesus
but in practically all of the province of Asia,
by saying
that gods made by hands are not gods at all.
Acts 20:18-27
20:18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia,
20:19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots of the Jews.
20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming to you anything that would be helpful, and from teaching you publicly and from house to house,
20:21 testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
20:22 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem without knowing what will happen to me there,
20:23 except that the Holy Spirit warns me in town after town that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.
20:24 But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.
20:25 “And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again.
20:26 Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all.
20:27 For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God.
Acts 26:26
26:26 For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely
to him,
because I cannot believe
that any of these things has escaped his notice,
for this was not done in a corner.
Acts 28:23
28:23 They set a day to meet with him, and they came to him where he was staying in even greater numbers. From morning until evening he explained things to them, testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.
Galatians 1:10
1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people,
or of God? Or am I trying to please people?
If I were still trying to please
people,
I would not be a slave
of Christ!
Colossians 1:28-29
1:28 We proclaim him by instructing
and teaching
all people
with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature
in Christ.
1:29 Toward this goal
I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully
works in me.
Colossians 1:2
1:2 to the saints, the faithful
brothers and sisters
in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you
from God our Father!
Colossians 2:1
2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face.