Genesis 20
English Standard Version
Abraham and Abimelech
20 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between (A)Kadesh and Shur; and he (B)sojourned in (C)Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, (D)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 (E)But God came to Abimelech (F)in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, (G)“Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning (H)against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man's wife, (I)for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you (J)and all who are yours.”
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, (K)‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and (L)they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, (M)she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And when (N)God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, (O)say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Then Abimelech (P)took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, (Q)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given (R)your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is (S)a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all[a] who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17 Then (T)Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the Lord (U)had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Footnotes
- Genesis 20:16 Hebrew It is a covering of eyes for all
Genesis 20
New King James Version
Abraham and Abimelech
20 And Abraham journeyed from (A)there to the South, and dwelt between (B)Kadesh and Shur, and (C)stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, (D)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and (E)took Sarah.
3 But (F)God came to Abimelech (G)in a dream by night, and said to him, (H)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is [a]a man’s wife.”
4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, (I)will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ (J)In the [b]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For (K)I also withheld you from sinning (L)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; (M)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, (N)know that you shall surely die, you (O)and all who are yours.”
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I [c]offended you, (P)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me (Q)that ought not to be done.” 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”
11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely (R)the fear of God is not in this place; and (S)they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 But indeed (T)she is truly 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 (U)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, (V)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
14 Then Abimelech (W)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “See, (X)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; (Y)indeed this [d]vindicates you (Z)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was [e]rebuked.
17 So Abraham (AA)prayed to God; and God (AB)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the Lord (AC)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Footnotes
- Genesis 20:3 Lit. married to a husband
- Genesis 20:5 innocence
- Genesis 20:9 sinned against
- Genesis 20:16 Lit. is a covering of the eyes for you to all
- Genesis 20:16 Or justified
Genesis 20
New Century Version
Abraham Tricks Abimelech
20 Abraham left Hebron and traveled to southern Canaan where he stayed awhile between Kadesh and Shur. When he moved to Gerar, 2 he told people that his wife Sarah was his sister. Abimelech king of Gerar heard this, so he sent some servants to take her. 3 But one night God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and said, “You will die. The woman you took is married.”
4 But Abimelech had not gone near Sarah, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Abraham himself told me, ‘This woman is my sister,’ and she also said, ‘He is my brother.’ I am innocent. I did not know I was doing anything wrong.”
6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know you did not realize what you were doing. So I did not allow you to sin against me and touch her. 7 Give Abraham his wife back. He is a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will not die. But if you do not give Sarah back, you and all your family will surely die.”
8 So early the next morning, Abimelech called all his officers and told them everything that had happened in the dream. They were very afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham to him and said, “What have you done to us? What wrong did I do against you? Why did you bring this trouble to my kingdom? You should not have done these things to me. 10 What were you thinking that caused you to do this?”
11 Then Abraham answered, “I thought no one in this place respected God and that someone would kill me to get Sarah. 12 And it is true that she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but she is not the daughter of my mother. 13 When God told me to leave my father’s house and wander in many different places, I told Sarah, ‘You must do a special favor for me. Everywhere we go tell people I am your brother.’”
14 Then Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves. He also gave Sarah, Abraham’s wife, back to him 15 and said, “Look around you at my land. You may live anywhere you want.”
16 Abimelech said to Sarah, “I gave your brother Abraham twenty-five pounds of silver to make up for any wrong that people may think about you. I want everyone to know that you are innocent.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his servant girls so they could have children. 18 The Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech’s house from having children as a punishment on Abimelech for taking Abraham’s wife Sarah.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.