Genesis 20

1 Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He was a foreigner living in Gerar.

Abraham left Mamre and moved southwest to the Negev desert and lived in a place named Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur.

2 Abraham said concerning Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

While he was there, he told people that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. Then King Abimelech of Gerar sent some of his men to Sarah, and they brought her to him to be his wife.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the 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.”

But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream during the night and said to him, “Listen to me! You are going to die because the woman you took is another man’s wife.”

4 Now Abimelech had not come near her and he said, “Lord, would you kill even a righteous nation?

But Abimelech had not had sex [EUP] with her, so he said, “God, since the people of my nation and I am innocent; will you kill me?

5 Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister?' Even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

He told me, ‘She is my sister,’ and she also said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with pure motives and I [SYN] have not done anything wrong yet.”

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I also know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and I also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow you to touch her.

God said to him in another dream, “Yes, I know that your motives were pure. That is why I truly prevented you from sinning against me. I did not allow you to have sex [EUP] with her.

7 Therefore, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you and all who are yours will surely die.”

Now, return this man’s wife to her husband, because he is (a prophet/a man who receives messages from me). He will pray for you, and you will (remain alive/not die). But if you do not return her to him, you will certainly die, and all the members of your household will also certainly die.”

8 Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all of his servants to himself. He told all these things to them, and the men were very afraid.

Early the next morning, Abimelech summoned all his officials, and told them everything that had happened. When they heard that [MTY], his men were very afraid [that God would punish them].

9 Then Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me that which ought not to be done.”

Abimelech then summoned Abraham, and said to him, “You should not have done that to us [RHQ]! Did I do something wrong to you, with the result that you are causing me and the people in [MTY] my kingdom to be guilty of committing a great sin [RHQ]? You have done things to me that (should not be done/you should not have done)!”

10 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”

Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

11 Abraham said, “Because I thought, 'Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'

Abraham replied, “I said that because I thought, ‘They certainly do not respect God in this place. If they don’t respect God, they will not respect relationships with others. [If I say she is my sister, they will try to pay me a bride price] to get her. But if I say she is my wife, they will kill me to get her.’

12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Besides, she really [can be considered] my sister, because she is the daughter of my father, although she is not the daughter of my mother. She is the daughter of another woman, and I married her.

13 When God caused me to leave my father's house and travel from place to place, I said to her, 'You must show me this faithfulness as my wife: At every place where we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”'”

Later, when God told me to move away from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is the way you can show that you love me: Everywhere we go, say about me, “This is my brother.”’”

14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham. Then he returned Sarah, Abraham's wife, to him.

So Abimelech brought some sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham. And he returned his wife Sarah to him.

15 Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever it pleases you.”

And Abimelech said to him, “Look! All my land is here in front of you. Live in whatever place you like!”

16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is to cover any offense against you in the eyes of all that are with you, and before everyone, you are completely made right.”

And he said to Sarah, “Look here, I am giving 1,000 pieces of silver to your brother. This is to insure that no one will [bring up this matter again and] say that I have done something wrong. [EUP, IDM]”

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they were able to have children.

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech’s wife and his slave girls so that they could become pregnant.

18 For Yahweh had caused all the women of the household of Abimelech to be completely infertile, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

This was because Yahweh had caused it to be impossible for any of the women in Abimelech’s household to bear children, because Abimelech had taken Abraham’s wife Sarah.