Sarah Rescued from Abimelech

20 From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,^{(A) 2} Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.”^(B) So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”^[a]

⁴ Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy a nation even though it is innocent? ⁵ Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience^[b] and clean^[c] hands.”

⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience.^[d] I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet,^(C) and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally^[e] told them all these things, and the men were terrified.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”^{(D) 10} Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?”

¹¹ Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place.^(E) They will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹² Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. ¹³ So when God had me wander from my father’s house,^(F) I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me, ‘He’s my brother.’”^(G)

¹⁴ Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you.^(H) Settle wherever you want.”^{[f] 16} And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor^[g] to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God,^(I) and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, ¹⁸ for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

⁶ So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Isaac’s Deception

⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”^(A) for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking,^(B) “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”^{(C) 8} When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see^[a] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹ Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What have you done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”^{(D) 11} So Abimelech warned all the people, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”