Genesis 17–18

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.

Chapter 18

¹And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day. ²And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to the earth, ³and said, Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. ⁴Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said. ⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes. ⁷And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it. ⁸And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹And they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. ¹⁰And he said, I will certainly return to thee at this time of the year, and behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent-door, which was behind him. ¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in age: it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹²And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am become old, shall I have pleasure, and my lord old? ¹³And Jehovah said to Abraham, Why is this, that Sarah laughs, saying, Shall I indeed bear, when I am become old? ¹⁴Is any matter too wonderful for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return to thee, at this time of the year, and Sarah shall have a son. ¹⁵And Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And he said, No; but thou didst laugh.

¹⁶And the men rose up thence, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to conduct them. ¹⁷And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? ¹⁸Since Abraham shall indeed become a great and mighty nation; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. ¹⁹For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him. ²⁰And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous, ²¹I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me; and if not, I will know it. ²²And the men turned thence, and went towards Sodom; and Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah.

²³And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked? ²⁴There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein? ²⁵Far be it from thee to do so, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked—far be it from thee! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? ²⁶And Jehovah said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sakes. ²⁷And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes. ²⁸Perhaps there may want five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five? And he said, If I shall find forty-five there, I will not destroy it. ²⁹And he continued yet to speak with him, and said, Perhaps there may be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty’s sake. ³⁰And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. ³¹And he said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak with the Lord. Perhaps there may be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake. ³²And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, that I speak yet but this time! Perhaps there may be ten found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake. ³³And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.