From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb
and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. And
Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech
king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech 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.” Now
Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill
an innocent people? 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.” 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 against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now
then, return the man's wife, 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 and all who are yours.”
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. 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.” And Abimelech said to Abraham,
“What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did
it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this
place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is
indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter
of my mother, and she became my wife. And when 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, say of me, “He is
my brother.”’”
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female
servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to
him. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell
where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your
brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence
in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are
vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech,
and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore
children. For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of
Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
