Abimelech

1And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

Abraham moved south. He lived between two places called Kadesh and Shur. Then he stayed for a while in a town called Gerar.

2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." So Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent men to bring Sarah to him.

3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.

But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream. God said, "You are as good as dead. The woman you took is another man's wife."

4But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

Abimelech had not gone near her yet. He said, "Lord, will you kill a whole nation that did nothing wrong?"

5Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

"Didn't Abraham tell me she was his sister? She said he was her brother. My heart was honest. My hands did nothing wrong."

6And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

God said in the dream, "Yes, I know your heart was honest. That is why I kept you from sinning against me. I did not let you touch her."

7Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

"Now give the man his wife back. He is a prophet, someone who speaks for God. He will pray for you, and you will live. If you do not give her back, you and all your people will surely die."

8Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

Early the next morning Abimelech called all his servants. He told them everything that had happened. The men were very afraid.

9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

Then Abimelech called Abraham in. He said, "What have you done to us? What wrong did I do to you? You brought a terrible sin on me and my kingdom. You did something to me that should never be done."

10And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

Abimelech also asked Abraham, "What were you thinking when you did this?"

11And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

Abraham said, "I thought nobody in this place respects God. I thought they would kill me so they could take my wife."

12And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

"Besides, she really is my sister. We have the same father, but not the same mother. And she became my wife."

13And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

"God sent me away from my father's house to wander. I asked Sarah to be kind to me. I said, 'Everywhere we go, tell people I am your brother.'"

14And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, and servants, both men and women. He gave them to Abraham. He also gave Sarah back to him.

15And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

Abimelech said, "Look, this is my land. Live anywhere you like."

16And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

To Sarah he said, "I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. This shows everyone that you did nothing wrong. No one can blame you now."

17So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

Then Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants. They could have babies again.

18For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.

The LORD had stopped every woman in Abimelech's house from having babies. He did this because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

22And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

About that time King Abimelech came to Abraham. Phichol, the leader of his soldiers, came too. They said, "God helps you in everything you do."

23Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

"So promise me here, before God, that you will never trick me. Do not trick my children or my grandchildren either. I have been kind to you. Be kind to me and to this land where you are living."

24And Abraham said, I will swear.

Abraham said, "I promise."

25And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.

But Abraham told Abimelech that something was wrong. Abimelech's servants had grabbed a water well that Abraham had dug.

26And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

Abimelech said, "I do not know who did this. You never told me. I only heard about it today."

27And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

Abraham gave Abimelech sheep and cows. The two men made an agreement with each other.

28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

Abraham set seven girl lambs apart from the rest of the flock.

29And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

Abimelech asked him, "Why have you set these seven lambs apart?"

30And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

Abraham said, "Take these seven lambs from me. They will show everyone that I dug this well."

31Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

So he called that place Beersheba, because the two men made their promise there.

32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

They made their agreement at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phichol went back to the land of the Philistines.

33And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

Abraham planted a tree at Beersheba. There he prayed to the LORD, the God who lives forever.

34And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.

Abraham lived in the Philistines' land for a long time.

1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

There was no food in the land again. The same thing had happened long before, when Abraham was alive. So Isaac went to see Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, in a town called Gerar.

2And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

The LORD, who is God, came to Isaac and spoke to him. He said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land I show you."

3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

"Stay here as a visitor. I will be with you, and I will be good to you. I will give all these lands to you and to your family after you. I promised this to your father Abraham, and I will do it."

4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

"Your family will grow and grow. There will be too many to count, like the stars in the sky. I will give them all these lands. Because of your family, good things will come to every nation on earth."

5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

"I am doing this because Abraham listened to me. He did what I asked and kept all my rules."

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

The men there asked about his wife. He said, "She is my sister." He was too afraid to say, "She is my wife." Rebekah was lovely to look at. Isaac thought the men might kill him so they could take her.

8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

Isaac lived there a long time. One day King Abimelech looked out of a window. He saw Isaac touching Rebekah the way a husband touches his wife.

9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

Abimelech called Isaac and said, "She really is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" Isaac said, "I thought someone might kill me to get her."

10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

Abimelech said, "Why did you do this to us? One of our men could easily have slept with your wife. Then we would all have been guilty of doing wrong."

11And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

So Abimelech gave an order to all his people. He said, "Anyone who hurts this man or his wife will be put to death."

12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

Isaac planted seeds in that land. That same year he gathered one hundred times what he had planted. The LORD was good to him.

13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

Isaac became rich. He kept growing richer and richer, until he was very rich indeed.

14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

He owned many sheep and cows, and he had many servants. The Philistines wanted what he had, and it made them angry.

15For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

Long ago Abraham's servants had dug wells there for water. The Philistines had filled every one of those wells with dirt.

16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Please go away from us. You have become much stronger than we are."

26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

Then Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought his friend Ahuzzath and Phichol, the leader of his army.

27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me? You did not like me. You sent me away."

28And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

They said, "We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. Let us make a promise to each other. Let us make an agreement with you."

29That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.

"Promise that you will not hurt us. We never hurt you. We were only kind to you. We sent you away in peace. And now the LORD has been very good to you."

30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

So Isaac made them a big meal. They ate and drank together.

31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

They got up early the next morning. Each side made its promise to the other. Then Isaac said goodbye, and they went away as friends.

32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

That same day Isaac's servants came to him. They told him about the well they had been digging. They said, "We have found water!"

33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

So he named the well Shebah. That is why the town is still called Beersheba today.