Genesis 20
20
Abraham tried to trick a big boss called Abimelek
1At one time, Abraham moved his camp south to the Negev desert, and he lived between the 2 towns called Kadesh and Shur. Then later, he moved his camp to a town called Gerar. 2While Abraham and Sarah were in Gerar, Abraham told everyone that his wife, Sarah, was his sister, not his wife. The big boss of Gerar was called Abimelek. He believed Abraham, so he sent somebody to get Sarah so that he could marry her.#Genesis 12:13; 26:7
3God was not happy that Abimelek was going to marry Sarah, so one night he gave Abimelek a dream, and in that dream, God told him, “You are going to die. You took Sarah to be your wife, but she is already married to Abraham.”
4Abimelek said, “But God, I haven’t married Sarah yet. I have not slept with her, like a man sleeps with his wife. Me and my people, we haven’t done anything wrong. Will you kill us for nothing? 5Abraham told me himself that Sarah was his sister. And she said that Abraham was her brother. I didn’t know that she was already married to him. I didn’t want to do anything wrong.”
6God kept talking to him in that dream. He said, “Yes, I know that you didn’t want to do anything wrong. You didn’t know that Sarah was a married woman. That’s why I did not let you touch her. I stopped you from doing a bad thing. 7So now, give Sarah back to Abraham. He is my special man, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But I’m telling you, if you don’t give her back to Abraham, I will kill you, and I will kill everyone that lives with you.”
8So early in the morning, Abimelek called a meeting for all his important workers. He told them everything that God said, and they were all very frightened. 9Then Abimelek sent somebody to get Abraham to come to that meeting. Abimelek said to Abraham, “Look, you have made trouble for me and my people. What did I do to you, so that you pay me back with this trouble? You have done a bad thing to us. 10Why did you do that? Why did you tell us that Sarah is your sister?”
11Abraham said, “I’m sorry. I thought that nobody here respected God, so I was frightened of you mob. I reckoned that you would kill me so that you can marry Sarah. 12But anyway, Sarah really is my sister. We have the same father, but different mothers.” You see, in Abraham’s culture, men could marry their half-sisters.
13Then Abraham said, “God told me to leave my father’s country, so we moved around from place to place, and I was frightened of the people. So I told Sarah, ‘Be good to me and tell everyone that you are my sister. Then I will be safe.’ ”
14Then Abimelek did what God told him to do. He gave Sarah back to Abraham, and he also gave him some sheep, and some goats, and some cows, and some bulls, and some workers, both men and women. 15And Abimelek said to Abraham, “Friend, look around at all my country. You can live anywhere you like in this country.” 16Then Abimelek said to Sarah, “I’m giving Abraham, your brother, a lot of money, to pay for the trouble I gave you. I’m giving him 1,000 pieces of silver money to show your mob, and everyone else, that you did nothing wrong.”
17-18Then Abraham prayed to God and asked him to make Abimelek and his mob better. You see, before, at the time when Abimelek got Sarah so that he could marry her, God made Abimelek sick and stopped all the women in Abimelek’s house from having babies. But then God talked to Abimelek, and Abimelek gave Sarah back to Abraham. So then Abraham prayed to God, and God made Abimelek better, and he made Abimelek’s wife better, and he made all the women that lived in Abimelek’s house better too, so that they had babies again.
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B'resheet (Gen) 20
20
1Avraham traveled from there toward the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. While living as an alien in G’rar, 2Avraham was saying of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister”; so Avimelekh king of G’rar sent and took Sarah. 3But God came to Avimelekh in a dream one night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, since she is someone’s wife.” 4Now Avimelekh had not come near her; so he said, “Lord, will you kill even an upright nation? 5Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In doing this, my heart has been pure and my hands innocent.” 6God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in doing this, your heart has been pure; and I too have kept you from sinning against me. This is why I didn’t let you touch her. 7Therefore, return the man’s wife to him now. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will live. But if you don’t return her, know that you will certainly die — you and all who belong to you.”
8Avimelekh got up early in the morning, called all his servants and told them these things; and the men became very afraid. 9Then Avimelekh called Avraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you to cause you to bring on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that are just not done.” 10Avimelekh went on, asking Avraham, “Whatever could have caused you to do such a thing?” 11Avraham replied, “It was because I thought, ‘There could not possibly be any fear of God in this place, so they will kill me in order to get my wife.’ 12But she actually is also my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother, and so she became my wife. 13When God had me leave my father’s house, I told her, ‘Do me this favor: wherever we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
14Avimelekh took sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Avraham; and he returned to him Sarah his wife. 15Then Avimelekh said, “Look, my country lies before you; live where you like.” 16To Sarah he said, “Here, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. That will allay the suspicions of everyone who is with you. Before everyone you are cleared.” 17Avraham prayed to God, and God healed Avimelekh and his wife and slave-girls, so that they could have children. 18For Adonai had made every woman in Avimelekh’s household infertile on account of Sarah Avraham’s wife.
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