1Abraham flyttede nu fra Mamres egelund til Negev, hvor han først slog sig ned mellem Kadesh og Shurs ørken, og senere boede han en tid som fremmed nær ved byen Gerar.2Han omtalte sin kone, Sara, som om hun var hans søster. Derfor sendte kong Abimelek af Gerar bud efter hende.3Men en nat sagde Gud til Abimelek i en drøm: „Du skal dø! For kvinden, du tog, er gift med en anden!”4Abimelek havde imidlertid ikke ligget med Sara. Derfor sagde han: „Herre, vil du slå uskyldige mennesker ihjel?5Manden sagde jo, at hun var hans søster—og i øvrigt bekræftede hun det selv. Det var bestemt ikke min hensigt at gøre noget forkert!”6„Det ved jeg,” svarede Herren. „Det var derfor, jeg hindrede dig i at synde imod mig, idet jeg ikke tillod dig at røre hende.7Send hende tilbage til hendes mand. Han er en profet, så han kan gå i forbøn for dig, så du ikke dør. Men hvis du ikke sender hende tilbage, skal du og hele din husstand dø!”8Tidligt næste morgen sammenkaldte Abimelek alle sine tjenere og fortalte dem, hvad der var sket, og de blev skrækslagne.9Derefter sendte Abimelek bud efter Abraham. „Hvad er det dog, du har gjort imod os?” sagde han. „Hvad har du imod mig, siden du synes, jeg og mit rige fortjener at blive skyldige i sådan en stor synd? Sådan noget burde ikke ske!10Hvorfor har du gjort det imod os?”11„Jeg regnede med, at det her var et gudløst sted, og at man derfor uden videre ville slå mig ihjel og tage min kone,” svarede Abraham.12„Desuden er hun faktisk min søster, for vi har samme far, men ikke samme mor. Men vi giftede os alligevel.13Da Gud i sin tid pålagde mig at rejse bort fra mit eget land, sagde jeg til hende: ‚Hvor som helst vi kommer frem, så vær sød at sige, at jeg er din bror.’ ”14Derefter gav Abimelek Abraham får, køer og slaver, både mænd og kvinder, og gav ham også hans kone tilbage.15Abimelek sagde desuden: „Se dig omkring i mit rige og vælg det sted, hvor du helst vil slå dig ned.”16Til Sara sagde han: „Jeg giver din bror 1000 sølvstykker i erstatning for det, som er overgået dig. Så regner jeg med, at vi er kvit.”17Abraham bad nu til Gud og gik i forbøn for kong Abimelek, og Gud helbredte både ham, hans kone og de øvrige kvinder i hans harem, så de igen kunne få børn.18Herren havde nemlig gjort alle kvinderne i Abimeleks husstand ufrugtbare på grund af det med Sara.
1From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. (1.Mos 16,7; 1.Mos 16,14; 1.Mos 26,3; 1.Mos 26,6)2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. (1.Mos 12,13; 1.Mos 26,7)3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” (Job 33,15; Salm 105,14; Matt 1,20; Matt 2,12)4Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? (1.Mos 18,23; 1.Krøn 21,17)5Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”6Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. (1.Mos 39,9; Salm 51,4)7Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (4.Mos 16,32; 1.Sam 7,5; Job 42,8)8So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid.9Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”10And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?”11Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ (1.Mos 12,12; 1.Mos 26,7; Ord 16,6)12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. (1.Mos 11,29)13And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” (1.Mos 12,1; 1.Mos 12,13)14Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. (1.Mos 12,16)15And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” (1.Mos 13,9; 1.Mos 34,10)16To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all[1] who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” (1.Mos 20,5; 1.Mos 24,65)17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. (Jak 5,16)18For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. (1.Mos 12,17)