Chapter 15

Abram Promised a Son

1 After these things athe word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“bDo not fear, Abram,

I am ca shield to you;

1Your dreward shall be very great.”

2 Abram said, “O Lord 1God, what will You give me, since I 2am childless, and the 3heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “1Since You have given no 2offspring to me, 3one aborn in my house is my heir.”

4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; abut one who will come forth from your own 1body, he shall be your heir.”

5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and acount the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “bSo shall your 1descendants be.”

6 aThen he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of aUr of the Chaldeans, to bgive you this land to 1possess it.”

8 He said, “O Lord 1God, ahow may I know that I will 2possess it?”

9 So He said to him, “1Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10 Then he 1brought all these to Him and acut them 2in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he bdid not cut the birds.

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

12 Now when the sun was going down, aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 1terror and great darkness fell upon him.

13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ayour 1descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 2where bthey will be enslaved and oppressed cfour hundred years.

14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out awith 1many possessions.

15 “As for you, ayou shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

16 “Then in athe fourth generation they will return here, for bthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which apassed between these pieces.

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“aTo your 1descendants I have given this land,

From bthe river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 athe Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite

20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim

21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

Chapter 16

Sarai and Hagar

1 Now aSarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had ban Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. aPlease go in to my maid; perhaps I will 1obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 After Abram had 1lived aten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

5 And Sarai said to Abram, “aMay the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your 1arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her 2sight. bMay the Lord judge between 3you and me.”

6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your 1power; do to her what is good in your 2sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ashe fled from her presence.

7 Now athe angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to bShur.

8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, awhere have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself 1to her authority.”

10 Moreover, the aangel of the Lord said to her, “bI will greatly multiply your 1descendants so that 2they will be too many to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name 1Ishmael,

Because athe Lord 2has given heed to your affliction.

12 “He will be a awild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will 1live 2bto the east of all his brothers.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “1You are 2a God who sees”; for she said, “aHave I even 3remained alive here after seeing Him?”

14 Therefore the well was called 1Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between aKadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

16 Abram was aeighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to 1him.

Chapter 17

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, athe Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am 1God bAlmighty;

Walk before Me, and be 2cblameless.

2 “I will 1establish My acovenant between Me and you,

And I will bmultiply you exceedingly.”

3 Abram afell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,

And you will be the father of a amultitude of nations.

5 “No longer shall your name be called 1Abram,

But ayour name shall be 2Abraham;

For bI will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 “I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and akings will come forth from you.

7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your 1descendants after you throughout their generations for an aeverlasting covenant, bto be God to you and cto your 1descendants after you.

8 “aI will give to you and to your 1descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and bI will be their God.”

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ayou shall keep My covenant, you and your 1descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 “aThis is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your 1descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 “And ayou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12 “And every male among you who is aeight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your 1descendants.

13 “A servant who is born in your house or awho is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be acut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but 1Sarah shall be her name.

16 “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you aa son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; bkings of peoples will 1come from her.”

17 Then Abraham afell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And bwill Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you aa son, and you shall call his name 1Isaac; and bI will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his 2descendants after him.

20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and awill make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. bHe shall 1become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a cgreat nation.

21 “But My covenant I will establish with aIsaac, whom bSarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

22 When He finished talking with him, aGod went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were aborn in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, bas God had said to him.

24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ahe was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And aIshmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26 In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27 All the men of his household, who were aborn in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Chapter 18

Birth of Isaac Promised

1 Now athe Lord appeared to him by the 1boaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three amen were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth,

3 and said, “1My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not 2pass Your servant by.

4 “Please let a little water be brought and awash your feet, and 1rest yourselves under the tree;

5 and I will 1abring a piece of bread, that you may 2refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have 3visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.”

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “1Quickly, prepare three 2measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.”

7 Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and 1choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.

8 He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree 1as they ate.

9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

10 He said, “aI will surely return to you 1at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now aAbraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was bpast 1childbearing.

12 Sarah laughed 1to herself, saying, “aAfter I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my blord being old also?”

13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed 1bear a child, when I am so old?’

14 “aIs anything too 1difficult for the Lord? At the bappointed time I will return to you, 2at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

16 Then athe men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.

17 aThe Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham bwhat I am about to do,

18 since Abraham will surely become a great and 1mighty nation, and in him aall the nations of the earth will be blessed?

19 “For I have 1achosen him, so that he may bcommand his children and his household after him to ckeep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham dwhat He has spoken about him.”

20 And the Lord said, “aThe outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.

21 “I will ago down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

22 Then athe men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before bthe Lord.

23 Abraham came near and said, “aWill You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not 1spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

25 “Far be it from You to do 1such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not athe Judge of all the earth 2deal justly?”

26 So the Lord said, “aIf I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will 1spare the whole place on their account.”

27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have 1ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but adust and ashes.

28 “Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

29 He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”

30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 And he said, “Now behold, I have 1ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”

32 Then he said, “aOh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”

33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham athe Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Chapter 19

The Doom of Sodom

1 Now the atwo angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When bLot saw them, he rose to meet them and 1bowed down with his face to the ground.

2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.”

3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; aand he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 Before they lay down, athe men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people 1from every quarter;

5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “aWhere are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may 1have relations with them.”

6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him,

7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

8 “Now behold, aI have two daughters who have not 1had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them 2whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the 3shelter of my roof.”

9 But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in 1as an alien, and already ahe is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against 2Lot and came near to break the door.

10 But athe men reached out their 1hands and brought Lot into the house 2with them, and shut the door.

11 aThey 1struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;

13 for we are about to destroy this place, because atheir outcry has become so great before the Lord that bthe Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who 1were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, aget out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” bBut he appeared to his sons-in-law 2to be jesting.

15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the 1punishment of the city.”

16 But he hesitated. So the men aseized his hand and the hand of his wife and the 1hands of his two daughters, for bthe compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.

17 When they had brought them outside, 1one said, “aEscape for your life! bDo not look behind you, and do not stay 2anywhere in the cvalley; escape to dthe 3mountains, or you will be swept away.”

18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the 1mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;

20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) 1that my life may be saved.”

21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this 1request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.

22 “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called 1aZoar.

23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24 Then the Lord arained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,

25 and aHe overthrew those cities, and all the 1valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

26 But his wife, from behind him, alooked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to athe place where he had stood before the Lord;

28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the 1valley, and he saw, and behold, athe smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a 2furnace.

29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the 1valley, that aGod remembered Abraham, and bsent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot Is Debased

30 Lot went up from Zoar, and 1astayed in the 2mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to 3stay in Zoar; and he 1stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man 1on earth to acome in to us after the manner of the earth.

32 “Come, alet us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve 1our family through our father.”

33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

34 On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve 1our family through our father.”

35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

37 The firstborn bore a son, and called his name aMoab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

38 As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the 1sons of aAmmon to this day.