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New Living Translation |   | |
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| | Gen 20:1 | Now Abraham moved south to the Negev and settled for a while between Kadesh and Shur at a place called Gerar.
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| | Gen 20:2 | Abraham told people there that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. So King Abimelech sent for her and had her brought to him at his palace.
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| | Gen 20:3 | But one night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, "You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married."
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| | Gen 20:4 | But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent man?
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| | Gen 20:5 | Abraham told me, 'She is my sister,' and she herself said, 'Yes, he is my brother.' I acted in complete innocence!"
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| | Gen 20:6 | "Yes, I know you are innocent," God replied. "That is why I kept you from sinning against me; I did not let you touch her.
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| | Gen 20:7 | Now return her to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and your entire household will die."
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| | Gen 20:8 | Abimelech got up early the next morning and hastily called a meeting of all his servants. When he told them what had happened, great fear swept through the crowd.
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| | Gen 20:9 | Then Abimelech called for Abraham. "What is this you have done to us?" he demanded. "What have I done to you that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? This kind of thing should not be done!
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| | Gen 20:10 | Why have you done this to us?"
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| | Gen 20:11 | "Well," Abraham said, "I figured this to be a godless place. I thought, 'They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.'
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| | Gen 20:12 | Besides, she is my sister--we both have the same father, though different mothers--and I married her.
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| | Gen 20:13 | When God sent me to travel far from my father's home, I told her, 'Wherever we go, have the kindness to say that you are my sister.' "
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| | Gen 20:14 | Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants--both men and women--and gave them to Abraham, and he returned his wife, Sarah, to him.
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| | Gen 20:15 | "Look over my kingdom, and choose a place where you would like to live," Abimelech told him.
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| | Gen 20:16 | Then he turned to Sarah. "Look," he said, "I am giving your 'brother' a thousand pieces of silver to compensate for any embarrassment I may have caused you. This will settle any claim against me in this matter."
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| | Gen 20:17 | Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and the other women of the household, so they could have children.
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| | Gen 20:18 | For the LORD had stricken all the women with infertility as a warning to Abimelech for having taken Abraham's wife.
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