20 Then Avraham travelled from there to the Negev region and he settled between Kadesh and Shur, staying in Gerar for a while. 2 Avraham had told people his wife Sarah was his sister,[ref] so Avimelek the king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God came to Avimelek in a dream in the night and told him, “Listen, you’re as good as dead because of that woman you took because she is married to a husband.”

4 Now Avimelek hadn’t gone near to her, so he said, “My master, would you destroy a nation even though it’s innocent? 5 Didn’t Avraham himself tell me that she was his sister? And she herself also said that he was her brother. I did this with a clear conscience and with clean hands.”

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience and indeed I kept you from sinning against me. I didn’t allow you to touch her for that reason. 7 So now, return that man’s wife because he’s a prophet, and he’ll pray for you and you’ll live. But if you don’t return her, be certain that you and all your people will surely die.”

8 So King Avimelek got up early in the morning and called for all of his slaves to come, and he explained the entire situation to them and they were very scared. 9 Then he sent for Avraham and asked him, “What have you done to us? What did I do to you that you would cause all this trouble for me and my people? What you did to me should never have happened.” 10 Then he asked again, “What were you thinking when you did that?”

11 “Because I thought that there’s probably no one around here who obeys God,” replied Avraham “so they might kill me because of my wife. 12 Besides that, Sarah actually is my half-sister. We have the same father, but different mothers, and then it was her that I took as a wife. 13 Later when God got me to leave my father’s home, I said to her, ‘You could do this one kindness do for me: Everywhere we go, just tell them that he’s your brother.’ ”

14 Then King Avimelek returned Sarah his wife to him and also gave him flocks and herds, and male and female slaves, 15 and he told him, “Look, my land is in front of you. Settle wherever looks good to you.” 16 Then he said to Sarah, “Listen, I’ve given 1,000 pieces of silver to your brother. That’s for you to demonstrate that you did nothing wrong, so that you’re completely cleared.”

17 Then Avraham prayed to God, and God healed Avimelek and his wife and his slave women so that they could have children, 18 because Yahweh had made every woman in Avimelek’s household barren because of what had been happening to Avraham’s wife, Sarah.