“I will greatly increase your offspring,
And they shall be too many to count.”
11The angel of the LORD said to her further,
“Behold, you are with child
And shall bear a son;
You shall call him Ishmael,b
For the LORD has paid heed to your suffering.
12He shall be a wild ass of a man;
His hand against everyone,
And everyone’s hand against him;
He shall dwell alongside of all his kinsmen.”
13And she called the LORD who spoke to her, “You Are El-roi,”c by which she meant, d-“Have I not gone on seeing after He saw me!”-d 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;e it is between Kadesh and Bered.— 15Hagar bore a son to Abram, and Abram gave the son that Hagar bore him the name Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai.a Walk in My ways and be blameless. 2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.”
3Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further, 4“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham,b for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you. 7I will maintain My covenant be- tween Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. 8I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God.”
9God further said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant. 10Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall cir- cumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the cov- enant between Me and you. 12And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days. As for the homeborn slave and the one bought from an outsider who is not of your offspring, 13they must be circumcised, homeborn and purchased alike. Thus shall My covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact. 14And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his kin; he has broken My covenant.”
15And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah.c 16I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.” 17Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live by Your favor!” 19God said, “Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac;d and I will maintain My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring to come. 20As for Ishmael, I have heeded you.e I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedingly numerous. He shall be the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. 21But My covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” 22And when He was done speaking with him, God was gone from Abraham.
23Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all his homeborn slaves and all those he had bought, every male in Abraham’s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as God had spoken to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day; 27and all his household, his homeborn slaves and those that had been bought from outsiders, were circumcised with him.
18 The LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. 2Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, 3he said, “My lords,a if it please you, do not go on past your servant. 4Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. 5And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on—seeing that you have come your servant’s way.” They replied, “Do as you have said.”
Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!” Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it. 8He took curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate.
9They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.” 10Then one said, “I will return to you next year,b and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, ad- vanced in years; Sarah had stopped having the periods of women. 12And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment—with my husband so old?” 13Then the LORD said to Abra- ham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ 14Is anything too wondrous for the LORD? I will return to you at the same season next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was frightened. But He replied, “You did laugh.”
16The men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom, Abra- ham walking with them to see them off. 17Now the LORD had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him? 19For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is just and right, in order that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.” 20Then the LORD said, “The out- rage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! 21I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.”
22The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
23Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? 24What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” 26And the LORD answered, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham spoke up, saying, “Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes: 28What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?” And He answered, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.”
29But he spoke to Him again, and said, “What if forty should be found there?” And He answered. “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.” 30And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31And he said, “I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty.” 32And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.”
33When the LORD had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed; and Abraham returned to his place.
19 The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate
