1Abraham travelled on from there toward the south country. He lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he stayed for a time in Gerar.
2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3But God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, "Look, you are a dead man, because of the woman you have taken. She is another man's wife."
4But Abimelech had not come near her. He said, "Lord, will you kill a righteous nation too?"
5"Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself also said, 'He is my brother.' I did this with an honest heart and clean hands."
6God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this with an honest heart. I was the one who kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not allow you to touch her."
7"Now give the man his wife back. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not give her back, be sure of this: you will certainly die, you and all who belong to you."
8So Abimelech got up early in the morning. He called all his servants and told them everything he had heard, and the men were very afraid.
9Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? What wrong did I do to you, that you have brought such a great sin on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that ought not to be done."
11Abraham said, "I thought, 'Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'"
12"And she really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife."
13"When God made me wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must show me: at every place we come to, say about me, He is my brother.'"
14Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham. And he gave him back Sarah his wife.
15Abimelech said, "Look, my land is before you. Live wherever you please."
16And to Sarah he said, "Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Look, this is a covering of the eyes for you, before all who are with you and before everyone else." So she was corrected.