Genesis 18-21

Genesis 18

¹Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

²And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

³“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.

⁴Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

⁷Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

⁸Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied.

¹⁰Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

¹¹And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹²So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

¹³And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

¹⁴Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

¹⁶When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

¹⁷And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

¹⁸Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

²¹I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

²²And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

²³Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

²⁶So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

²⁷Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

²⁸suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”

³⁰Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

³¹And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”

³²Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis 19

¹Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,

²and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

³But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.

⁵They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”

⁶Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him.

⁷“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!

⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

⁹“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.

¹⁰But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

¹¹And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.

¹²Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,

¹³because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵At daybreak the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.

¹⁷As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸But Lot replied, “No, my lords, please!

¹⁹Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

²⁰Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

²¹“Very well,” he answered, “I will grant this request as well, and will not demolish the town you indicate.

²²Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.

²³And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar.

²⁴Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.

²⁵Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground.

²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

³⁰Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains—for he was afraid to stay in Zoar—where they lived in a cave.

³¹One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.

³²Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”

³³So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”

³⁵So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

³⁷The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.

³⁸The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Genesis 20

¹Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,

²Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

³One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

⁴Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

⁵Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

⁶Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

⁸Early the next morning Abimelech got up and summoned all his servants; and when he described to them all that had happened, the men were terrified.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

¹⁰Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”

¹¹Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.

¹³So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

¹⁴So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.

¹⁵And Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please.”

¹⁶And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

¹⁸for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.

Genesis 21

¹Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.

²So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

³And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.

⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

⁷She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,

¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”

¹¹Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

¹³But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

¹⁶Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.

¹⁸Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

²¹And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”

²⁴And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”

²⁵But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”

²⁷So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

²⁸Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,

²⁹and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”

³⁰He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”

³¹So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

³²After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

³⁴And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.