Genesis 20

⁶So Isaac settled in Gerar.

¹Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

⁸The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

¹³Then Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover, for they were crushed before the Lord and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great amount of plunder

¹⁴and attacked all the cities around Gerar, because the terror of the Lord had fallen upon them. They plundered all the cities, since there was much plunder there.

¹Then the Lord appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

¹So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.

¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.

⁷But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹⁶For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times.

¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.

²Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you.

⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,

¹⁴He let no man oppress them; He rebuked kings on their behalf:

¹²And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

²⁰But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

²³Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

¹⁷And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”

¹¹How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

⁶Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

²⁴Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

¹⁸for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.

⁸The Lord judges the peoples; vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and integrity.

⁴And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

³The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.

⁷The righteous man walks with integrity; blessed are his children after him.

¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed.

⁹‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

²⁶Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, since the Lord has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

¹The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the Lord; He directs it where He pleases.

⁵As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

⁷And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.

⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.

⁸So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”

⁵Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”

⁴Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

¹⁷When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

⁵If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.

⁶These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

¹¹But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy.

¹⁸So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

⁹No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

¹⁰“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

¹²“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

¹¹For God does not show favoritism.

¹⁰He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.

⁷But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. An oracle is in my heart regarding the transgression of the wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes.

²For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.

⁵then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.

¹⁸and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

⁶By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns aside from evil.

²⁹And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

¹³Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

²²Abstain from every form of evil.

¹Then the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

⁹And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

³and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’

⁴So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.

⁵They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.

⁹“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹¹As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹⁶He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

²Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

¹¹Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

⁹Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

¹⁰You may settle among us, and the land will be open to you. Live here, move about freely, and acquire your own property.”

⁶the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

⁵Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

⁵Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.

⁶⁵and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

¹⁹Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

¹²Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

⁹So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

²⁵Brothers, pray for us as well.

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

¹⁷The Lord, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

²Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”

²So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

⁶Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her.

⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!”