²And Abram said, Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me? seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. ³And Abram said, Lo, to me thou hast given no seed, and behold, a son of my house will be mine heir. ⁴And behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that will come forth out of thy body shall be thine heir. ⁵And he led him out, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed be! ⁶And he believed Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

⁷And he said to him, I am Jehovah who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give thee this land to possess it. ⁸And he said, Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall possess it? ⁹And he said to him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. ¹⁰And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the half of each opposite its fellow; but the birds he did not divide. ¹¹And the birds of prey came down on the carcases; and Abram scared them away.

¹²And as the sun was just going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, a horror, a great darkness, fell upon him. ¹³And he said to Abram, Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴But also that nation which they shall serve I will judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great property. ¹⁵And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

¹⁷And it came to pass when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces. ¹⁸On the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates; ¹⁹the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, ²⁰and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, ²¹and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Chapter 16

¹And Sarai Abram’s wife did not bear him children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant; and her name was Hagar. ²And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, Jehovah has shut me up, that I do not bear. Go in, I pray thee, to my maidservant: it may be that I shall be built up by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ³And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar, the Egyptian, her maidservant, at the end of ten years that Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram, as his wife.

⁴And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was lightly esteemed in her eyes. ⁵And Sarai said to Abram, My wrong be on thee! I have given my maidservant into thy bosom; and now she sees that she has conceived, I am lightly esteemed in her eyes. Jehovah judge between me and thee! ⁶And Abram said to Sarai, Behold, thy maidservant is in thy hand: do to her what is good in thine eyes. And Sarai oppressed her; and she fled from her face.

⁷And the Angel of Jehovah found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maidservant, whence comest thou? and whither art thou going? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai. ⁹And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

¹⁰And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. ¹¹And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath hearkened to thy affliction. ¹²And he will be a wild-ass of a man, his hand against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell before the face of all his brethren. ¹³And she called the name of Jehovah who spoke to her, Thou art the •God who reveals himself, for she said, Also here have I seen after he has revealed himself. ¹⁴Therefore the well was named Beer-lahai-roi: behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Chapter 17

¹And Abram was ninety-nine years old, when Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty •God: walk before my face, and be perfect. ²And I will set my covenant between me and thee, and will very greatly multiply thee. ³And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying,

⁴It is I: behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of a multitude of nations. ⁵And thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. ⁶And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. ⁸And I give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be a God to them. ⁹And God said to Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. ¹⁰This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee—that every male among you be circumcised. ¹¹And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and that shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²And at eight days old shall every male in your generations be circumcised among you—he who is born in the house, and he who is bought with money, any stranger who is not of thy seed. ¹³He who is born in thy house, and he who is bought with thy money, must be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴And the uncircumcised male who hath not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples: he hath broken my covenant.

¹⁵And God said to Abraham, As to Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶And I will bless her, and I will give thee a son also of her; and I will bless her, and she shall become nations: kings of peoples shall be of her. ¹⁷And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear? ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee! ¹⁹And God said, Sarah thy wife shall indeed bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰And for Ishmael I have heard thee: behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will very greatly multiply him; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year. ²²And he left off talking with him; and God went up from Abraham.

²³And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money—every male among the people of Abraham’s house—and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴And Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son; ²⁷and all the men of his house, born in his house, or bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

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