Genesis 16–20

16Now Sarai Abram’s wife ^abare him no children: and she had an handmaid, ^ban Egyptian, whose name was ^cHagar. ^2dAnd Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord ^ehath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may ^†obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ³And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram ^fhad dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was ^gdespised in her eyes. ⁵And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: ^hthe Lord judge between me and thee. ⁶But Abram said unto Sarai, ⁱBehold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her ^†as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai ^†dealt hardly with her, ^kshe fled from her face. ⁷And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the ^lwilderness, by the fountain in the way to ^mShur. ⁸And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. ⁹And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. ¹⁰And the angel of the Lord said unto her, ⁿI will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. ¹¹And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, ^oand shalt call his name ^||Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. ^12pAnd he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; ^qand he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. ¹³And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? ¹⁴Wherefore the well was called ^r||Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^sKadesh and Bered. ¹⁵And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, ^tIshmael. ^16*And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

17^*And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am ^athe Almighty God; ^bwalk before me, and be thou ^||cperfect. ²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and ^dwill multiply thee exceedingly. ³And Abram ^efell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, ⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be ^fa father of ^†many nations. ⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but ^gthy name shall be ^||Abraham; ^hfor a father of many nations have I made thee. ⁶And I will make thee exceeding ⁱfruitful, and I will make ^knations of thee, and ^lkings shall come out of thee. ⁷And I will ^mestablish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, ⁿto be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. ⁸And ^oI will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land ^†pwherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and ^pI will be their God. ⁹And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, 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; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be ^qa token of the covenant betwixt me and you. ¹²And ^†he that is eight days old ^rshall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. ¹³He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. ¹⁵And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but ^||Sarah shall her name be. ¹⁶And I will bless her, ^sand give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and ^†she shall be a mother ^tof nations; kings of people shall be of her. ¹⁷Then Abraham fell upon his face, ^uand laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? ¹⁸And Abraham said unto God, O that ^xIshmael might live before thee! ¹⁹And God said, ^ySarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and ^zwill make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; ^atwelve princes shall he beget, ^band I will make him a great nation. ²¹But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. ²²And he left off talking with him, and ^cGod went up from Abraham.

²³And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. ²⁴And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, 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 the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

18And the Lord appeared unto him in the ^aplains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; ²And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, ^bthree men stood by him: ^cand when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, ³And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: ⁴Let ^da little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: ⁵And ^eI will fetch a morsel of bread, and ^†comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: ^ffor therefore ^†are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. ⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, ^†Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. ⁷And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. ⁸And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. ⁹And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, ^gin the tent. ¹⁰And he said, I will certainly return unto thee ^haccording to the time of life; and, lo, ⁱSarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹Now ^kAbraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah ^lafter the manner of women. ¹²Therefore Sarah ^mlaughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my ⁿlord being old also? ¹³And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? ^14oIs any thing too hard for the Lord? ^pAt the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. ¹⁵Then Sarah ^qdenied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

¹⁶And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them ^rto bring them on the way. ¹⁷And the Lord said, ^sShall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; ¹⁸Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^tblessed in him? ¹⁹For I know him, ^uthat he will command his children and his ^whousehold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. ²⁰And the Lord said, Because ^xthe cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; ^21yI will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, ^zI will know. ²²And the men turned their faces from thence, ^aand went toward Sodom: but Abraham ^bstood yet before the Lord.

²³And Abraham ^cdrew near, and said, ^dWilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? ²⁵That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and ^ethat the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: ^fShall not the Judge of all the earth do right? ²⁶And the Lord said, ^gIf I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. ²⁷And Abraham answered and said, ^hBehold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but ⁱdust and ashes: ²⁸Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. ²⁹And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. ³⁰And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. ³¹And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord:…