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Genesis 20

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1 And Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar.

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

3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold thou wilt·​·die on·​·account·​·of the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is married to a husband.

4 And Abimelech had not come·​·near to her; and he said, Lord, wilt Thou kill also a just nation?

5 Said he not to me, She is my sister? And she herself also Said, He is my brother; in the integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said to him in the dream, I also know that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this; and I also kept· thee ·back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not allow thee to touch her.

7 And now return the wife of the man, for he is a prophet; and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; and if thou return her not, know thou that dying thou shalt die, thou and all that are thine.

8 And Abimelech got·​·up·​·early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men feared exceedingly.

9 And Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, What hast thou done to us? And wherein have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done with·​·me deeds that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What sawest thou that thou hast done this word?

11 And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on·​·account·​·of the matter of my wife.

12 And also, truly, she is my sister, being the daughter of my father, only not the daughter of my mother, and she became for me a wife.

13 And it was, as God caused me to depart* from the house of my father, that I said to her, This is thy mercy which thou shalt do with·​·me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took flock and herd, and menservants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham; and returned to him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee; dwell in that which is good in thine eyes.

16 And to Sarah he said, Behold I have given a thousand of silver to thy brother; behold it is to thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all; and she was vindicated.

17 And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they gave·​·birth.

18 For restraining Jehovah had therefore restrained every womb of the house of Abimelech, on·​·account·​·of the word of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Restore

  

Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to fill. There is also the phrase "the spiritual order of things," meaning that every spiritual thing is in its proper spiritual place, occupying the spiritual niche it is meant to fill. This is, of course, what the Lord intends for us, and happens when we accept life and love from Him by willing what is good and acting according to truth. Of course, things are frequently out of order, because even the best of us indulge in unhealthy self-obsession and attachment to the material world. Ideally, we will repeatedly turn to the Lord and ask for His help with the cleanup, putting things back where they belong in the "spiritual order of things." This is what is meant when the Bible talks about restoring things -- it means putting them back into their proper spiritual place.