Genesis 20:1–8

Abraham Lies to Abimelech

¹And Abraham journeyed from ^athere toward the land of ^bthe ¹Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in ^cGerar.

²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “^aShe is my sister.” So ^bAbimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

^3aBut God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, “Behold, ^byou are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ¹married.”

⁴(Now Abimelech had not come near her.) Then he said, “Lord, ^awill You kill a nation, even though righteous?

⁵“Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she ^aherself also said, ‘He is my brother.’ In ^bthe integrity of my heart and the innocence of my ¹hands I have done this.”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Indeed, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also ^1aheld you back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

⁷“So now, return the man’s wife, for ^ahe is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly afraid.