Genesis 18-21

Genesis 18

¹And the LORD appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

²and he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

³and said, My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

⁴let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

⁵and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are 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.

⁷And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto the servant; 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, in the tent.

¹⁰And he said, I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

¹²And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord 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?

¹⁴Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return unto thee, when the season cometh round, and Sarah shall have a son.

¹⁵Then Sarah denied, 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 to bring them on the way.

¹⁷And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do;

¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; to the end that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

²⁰And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

²¹I 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, I will know.

²²And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

²³And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume 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, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

²⁶And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.

²⁷And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

²⁸peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five.

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 the forty’s sake.

³⁰And he said, 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: peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.

³²And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.

³³And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

Genesis 19

¹And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth;

²and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

³And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

⁵and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

⁶And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.

⁷And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.

⁸Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.

⁹And they said, Stand back. And they said, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.

¹⁰But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

¹¹And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹²And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city; bring them out of the place:

¹³for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy the city. But he seemed unto his sons in law as one that mocked.

¹⁵And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

¹⁶But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

¹⁷And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

¹⁸And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my lord:

¹⁹behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die:

²⁰behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

²¹And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.

²²Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar.

²⁴Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

²⁵and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

²⁶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD:

²⁸and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

³⁰And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

³²come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³³And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁴And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³⁵And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁶Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

³⁷And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

³⁸And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

Genesis 20

¹And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.

²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

³But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.

⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation?

⁵Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.

⁶And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

⁷Now therefore restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

⁸And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

¹⁰And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

¹¹And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

¹²And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:

¹³and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and menservants and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

¹⁵And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

¹⁶And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted.

¹⁷And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

¹⁸For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.

Genesis 21

¹And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

²And Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

³And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

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

⁵And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

⁶And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh; every one that heareth will laugh with me.

⁷And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should give children suck? for I have borne him a son in his old age.

⁸And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking.

¹⁰Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

¹¹And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son.

¹²And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

¹³And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

¹⁴And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

¹⁵And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

¹⁹And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

²⁰And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

²²And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

²³now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

²⁴And Abraham said, I will swear.

²⁵And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.

²⁶And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but today.

²⁷And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and they two made a covenant.

²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

³⁰And he said, These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

³¹Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.

³²So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

³³And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

³⁴And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.