¹ And Abraham went on his way from there to the land of the South, and was living between Kadesh and Shur, in Gerar.

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

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night, and said to him, Truly you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife.

⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, will you put to death an upright nation?

⁵ Did he not say to me himself, She is my sister? and she herself said, He is my brother: with an upright heart and clean hands have I done this.

⁶ And God said to him in the dream, I see that you have done this with an upright heart, and I have kept you from sinning against me: for this reason I did not let you come near her.

⁷ So now, give the man back his wife, for he is a prophet, and let him say a prayer for you, so your life may be safe: but if you do not give her back, be certain that death will come to you and all your house.

⁸ So Abimelech got up early in the morning and sent for all his servants and gave them word of these things, and they were full of fear.

⁹ Then Abimelech sent for Abraham, and said, What have you done to us? what wrong have I done you that you have put on me and on my kingdom so great a sin? You have done to me things which are not to be done.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, Why did you do this thing?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.

¹² And, in fact, she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:

¹³ And when God sent me wandering from my father's house, I said to her, Let this be the sign of your love for me; wherever we go, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴ Then Abimelech gave to Abraham sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants, and gave him back his wife Sarah.

¹⁵ And Abimelech said, See, all my land is before you; take whatever place seems good to you.

¹⁶ And he said to Sarah, See, I have given to your brother a thousand bits of silver so that your wrong may be put right; now your honour is clear in the eyes of all.

¹⁷ Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had children.

¹⁸ For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

¹ After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

² Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

³ Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."

⁴ Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."

⁵ Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."

⁶ He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.

⁷ He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."

⁸ He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"

⁹ He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

¹⁰ He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds.

¹¹ The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

¹³ He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴ I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,

¹⁵ but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶ In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

¹⁷ It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

¹⁸ In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."