Logo - Feel The Words
YLT

Genesis Chapter 20 (YLT)

minutes - words.
Genesis Chapter 20
Tap a verse to highlight it

1 And Abraham journeyeth from thence toward the land of the south, and dwelleth between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourneth in Gerar;

2 and Abraham saith concerning Sarah his wife, `She is my sister;' and Abimelech king of Gerar sendeth and taketh Sarah.

3 And God cometh in unto Abimelech in a dream of the night, and saith to him, `Lo, thou `art' a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken -- and she married to a husband.'

4 And Abimelech hath not drawn near unto her, and he saith, `Lord, also a righteous nation dost thou slay?

5 hath not he himself said to me, She `is' my sister! and she, even she herself, said, He `is' my brother; in the integrity of my heart, and in the innocency of my hands, I have done this.'

6 And God saith unto him in the dream, `Yea, I -- I have known that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I withhold thee, even I, from sinning against Me, therefore I have not suffered thee to come against her;

7 and now send back the man's wife, for he `is' inspired, and he doth pray for thee, and live thou; and if thou do not send back, know that dying thou dost die, thou, and all that thou hast.'

8 And Abimelech riseth early in the morning, and calleth for all his servants, and speaketh all these words in their ears; and the men fear exceedingly;

9 and Abimelech calleth for Abraham, and saith to him, `What hast thou done to us? and what have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought upon me, and upon my kingdom, a great sin? works which are not done thou hast done with me.'

10 Abimelech also saith unto Abraham, `What hast thou seen that thou hast done this thing?'

11 And Abraham saith, `Because I said, `Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they have slain me for the sake of my wife;

12 and also, truly she is my sister, daughter of my father, only not daughter of my mother, and she becometh my wife;

13 and it cometh to pass, when God hath caused me to wander from my father's house, that I say to her, This `is' thy kindness which thou dost with me: at every place whither we come, say of me, He `is' my brother.'

14 And Abimelech taketh sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and giveth to Abraham, and sendeth back to him Sarah his wife;

15 and Abimelech saith, `Lo, my land `is' before thee, where it is good in thine eyes, dwell;'

16 and to Sarah he hath said, `Lo, I have given a thousand silverlings to thy brother; lo, it is to thee a covering of eyes, to all who are with thee;' and by all this she is reasoned with.

17 And Abraham prayeth unto God, and God healeth Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bear:

18 for Jehovah restraining had restrained every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens between Abraham and Abimelech in Genesis 20?
Abraham again tells a foreign king, Abimelech of Gerar, that Sarah is his sister, and Abimelech takes her; God warns Abimelech in a dream that she is a married woman, so Abimelech restores Sarah untouched, gives Abraham gifts, and Abraham prays for God to heal Abimelech's household, which had been struck with barrenness.
How did God protect Sarah in Abimelech's house?
Verse 6 says God kept Abimelech from touching her, telling him in a dream 'I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.'
Why did Abraham say Sarah was his sister again?
Verse 11 has Abraham explain he assumed 'the fear of God is not in this place' and feared being killed for his wife's sake, and verse 12 notes she was technically his half-sister, sharing his father but not his mother.

Today's Verse

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

Ezekiel 17:2 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

Abimelech, who insists he acted in innocence, returns Sarah to Abraham along with sheep, oxen, and silver, and Abraham then prays for Abimelech's household, which God had closed up because of Sarah. This account of a household restored through a prophet's intervention echoes in 1 Samuel 25:34, and Abraham's long-awaited fatherhood is fulfilled with Isaac's birth in Genesis 21.