Genesis 18:1–22

Birth of Isaac Promised

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

²When 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,

³and 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;

⁵and 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.”

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

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

⁸He 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.

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

¹⁰He 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.

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

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

¹³And 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.”

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

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

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

¹⁸since 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.”

²⁰And 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.”

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