Bible Time

¹AND Abraham journeyed from there toward the south country, and settled between Rakim and Gadar, and Abraham resided temporarily in Gadar. ²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimeleck king of Gadar sent and took Sarah. ³But God came to Abimeleck in a dream by night and said to him, Look, you will die on account of the woman whom you have taken; for she is another man's wife. ⁴But Abimeleck had not touched her; and he said, Oh Lord, will you slay an innocent people? ⁵Look, he said, She is my sister; and she herself also said, He is my brother; in the innocence of my heart and purity of my hands I have done this. ⁶And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you have done this in the innocence of your heart; for I also restrained you from sinning against me; therefore I did not permit you to touch her. ⁷Now therefore restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live; but if you do not restore her, then know that you will surely die, you, and all your family.

⁸Therefore, Abimeleck rose early in the morning and called all of his servants and told them all these words; and the men were exceedingly afraid. ⁹Then Abimeleck called Abraham and said to him, What have I done to you? What crime have I committed against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom such a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done. ¹⁰And Abimeleck said to Abraham, What induced you to do this thing? ¹¹And Abraham said, Because I thought, perhaps there is no fear of God in this country; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. ¹²Yet she is truly my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³And it came to pass when God brought me forth out of my father's house, I said to her, This is the favor which you will do to me; at every place where we will go, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴And Abimeleck took sheep and oxen and male and female servants and gave them to Abraham and restored to him Sarah his wife. ¹⁵Then Abimeleck said to Abraham, Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please. ¹⁶And to Sarah he said, Look, I have given 1,000 pieces of silver to your brother; look, it is given to you, because you have been humbled in the eyes of my people, and because of the other things for which I have reprimanded you. ¹⁷So Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimeleck and his wife and his female servants, and they bore children. ¹⁸For Yahvah had fast closed up the wombs of all women in the household of Abimeleck because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.