1 Abraham and his people left Mamre and went towards the south. They lived between two places in Canaan, a town called Kadesh and the desert called Shur.

Later they left Canaan and went north to Philistia, and stopped in a place called Gerar. 2 While Abraham was in Gerar he said to the people there, “Sarah is my sister.” Sarah was his sister first, but then she became his wife. People used to do that long ago in that country.

The king of Gerar was called Abimelech. He sent some of his people to Sarah to bring her to him to be his wife. 3 Then one night Abimelech had a dream. God came and appeared to him and said, “You are going to die because you have taken this woman. She is already married.”

4 At that time Sarah was in Abimelech's house, but he had not yet married her and he said to God, “I have done nothing wrong. So why will you kill me and my family? 5 Abraham himself said, ‘This woman is my sister.’ And she said, ‘He is my brother.’ So what I did was all right. I did nothing wrong.”

6 In the dream God said to him, “Yes, I know. It is not your fault. That is why I stopped you, and you didn't sin against me or against her, and you didn't touch her. 7 Give this woman back to her husband now. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you so that you will not die. But I am warning you, if you don't send this woman back to him you will die, you and all your people.”

8 The next morning Abimelech got up and called all his important servants and told them about the dream, and they were very frightened. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? What wrong have I done to you to make you send this trouble on me and my people? That was very bad. No one should ever do that kind of thing to me. 10 Why did you do it?”

11 Abraham answered, “I thought, ‘None of these people obey God. They will kill me to get my wife.’ 12 She really is my sister. She is my father's daughter, but not my mother's, and I married her. 13 So when God sent me from my father's country to other countries, this is what I told her. ‘Say to people, This is my brother. Then I will know that you really love me.’ ”

14 Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and at the same time he gave him sheep, cattle and servants. 15 He said to Abraham, “Here is my whole land, and you can live anywhere you like.” 16 And he said to Sarah, “Today I am giving your brother 1,000 silver coins. Now your people will know that you have done nothing wrong.”

17-18 Because of everything that had happened to Sarah, Abraham's wife, none of the women in Abimelech's palace could have children, because Yahweh stopped them. So Abraham prayed to God for Abimelech and God healed him and his wife and the women who were his servants, so that they could have children again.