THE WORD OF ELOHIM
GENESIS
Chapter 20
Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negeb and settled between Qadesh and Shur. While he was sojourning in Gerar, Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So King Abimelek of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. But Elohim came to Abimelek in a dream by night and said to him, "You are to die because of the woman that you have taken, for she is a married woman." Now Abimelek had not approached her. He said, "O Lord, will you slay people even though innocent? He himself said to me, 'She is my sister!' And she also said, 'He is my brother.' When I did this, my heart was blameless and my hands were clean." And Elohim said to him in the dream, "I knew that you did this with a blameless heart and so I kept you from sinning against me. That was why I did not let you touch her. Therefore, restore the man's wife―since he is a prophet, he will intercede for you―to save your life. If you fail to restore her, know that you shall die, you and all that are yours."
Early next morning, Abimelek called his servants and told them all that had happened and the men were greatly frightened. Then Abimelek summoned Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? What wrong have I done that you should bring so great a guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done to me things that ought not to be done. What, then," Abimelek demanded of Abraham, "was your purpose in doing this thing?" "I thought," said Abraham, "surely there is no fear of Elohim in this place and they will kill me because of my wife. And besides, she is in truth my sister, my father's daughter though not my mother's and she became my wife. So when Elohim made me wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'Let this be the kindness that you shall do me: Whatever place we come to, say there of me: He is my brother.'"
Abimelek took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored his wife Sarah to him. And Abimelek said, "here, my land is before you, settle wherever you please." And to Sarah he said, "I herewith give your brother a thousand pieces of silver; this will serve you as vindication before all who are with you, and you are cleared before everyone." Abraham then prayed to Elohim, and Elohim healed Abimelek and his wife and his slave girls, so that they bore children; for Yehovah had closed fast every womb of the household of Abimelek because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.