18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High). 19 And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Maker of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be God Most High

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

And heo gave to him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but the possessions take for yourself.” 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, 23 ⌊that neither a thread nor⌋p a thong of a sandal would I take from all that belongs to you, that you might not say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 ⌊Nothing besides what⌋q the servants have eaten and the share of the men who went out with me will I take. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Yahweh’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of Yahweh camea to Abram in a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield, and your reward shall be very great.” 2 Thenb Abram said, “O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? ⌊I continue to be⌋c childless, and ⌊my heir⌋d is Eliezer of Damascus.” 3 And Abram said, “Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, ⌊a member of my household⌋e is ⌊my heir⌋.”f 4 And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him saying, “This person will not ⌊be your heir⌋,g but ⌊your own son will be your heir⌋.”h 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And he said to him, “I am Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it.” 8 And he said, “O Yahweh God, how shall I know that I will possess it?” 9 And he said to him, “Take for 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 And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite ⌊the other⌋,i but the birds he did not cut. 11 And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 And it happened, as the sun ⌊went down⌋,j then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said to Abram, “⌊You must surely know⌋k that your descendants shall be as aliens in a land ⌊not their own⌋.l And they shall serve themm and theyn shall oppress them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation that theyo serve I will judge. Thenp afterward they shall go out with great possessions. 15 And as for you, you shall go to your ancestorsq in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites ⌊is not yet complete⌋.”r 17 And after the sun had gone down and it was dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces. 18 On that day Yahweh ⌊made⌋s a covenant with Abram saying, “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Sarai and Hagar

16 Nowa Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian female slave, and her name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps ⌊I will have children by her⌋.”b And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 Thenc Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian female slave, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when shed saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “may my harm be upon you. ⌊I had my slave sleep with you⌋,e and when she saw that she had conceived, ⌊she no longer respected me⌋.f May Yahweh judge between me and you!” 6 And Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave is ⌊under your authority⌋.g Do to her that which is good in your eyes.” And Sarai mistreated her, and sheh fled from her presence.

Hagar and the Angel of Yahweh

7 And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. 8 And he said to Hagar, the female slave of Sarai, “⌊From where⌋i have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress.” 9 Thenj the angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under ⌊her authority⌋.”k 10 And the angel of Yahweh said to her, “⌊I will greatly multiply⌋l your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance.” 11 And the angel of Yahweh said to her:

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall have a son.

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.

12 And he shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand will be against everyone,

and the hand of everyone will be against him,

and he will live ⌊in hostility with all his brothers⌋.”m

13 Son she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are El-Roi,”o for she said, “Here I have seen after he who sees me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was ⌊eighty-six years old⌋p when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Abram and Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant

17 Whena Abram was ⌊ninety-nine years old⌋b Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai;c walk before me and be blameless 2 so thatd I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you ⌊exceedingly⌋.”e 3 Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying, 4 “As for me, behold, my covenant shall be with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 And I will make you ⌊exceedingly⌋f fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you ⌊the land in which you are living as an alien⌋,g all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God.”

9 And God said to Abraham, “Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also withh your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 And ⌊at eight days of age⌋i you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and ⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner⌋j who is not from your offspring. 13 ⌊You must certainly circumcise⌋k ⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought with your money⌋.l And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from hism people. He has broken my covenant. 15 And God said to Abraham, “as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and ⌊she shall give rise to nations⌋.n Kings of peoples shall comeo from her.” 17 And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “⌊Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old⌋,p or ⌊can Sarah bear a child at ninety⌋?”q 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 And God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him ⌊exceedingly⌋.r He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year.” 22 Whens he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all those acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him. 24 Abraham was ⌊ninety-nine years old⌋t when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was ⌊thirteen years old⌋u when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27 And all the men of his house, ⌊those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner⌋,v were circumcised with him.