Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision 17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him , “ I am God Almighty ; walk before me , and be n blameless , 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you , and o may multiply you greatly . ” 3 Then Abram p fell on his face . And God said to him , 4 “ Behold , my covenant is with you , and you shall be q the father of a multitude of nations . 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram , but r your name shall be Abraham , s for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations . 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful , and I will make t you into nations , and u kings shall come from you . 7 And I will v establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant , w to be God to you and to your offspring after you . 8 And x I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings , all the land of Canaan , for an everlasting possession , and y I will be their God . ” 9 And God said to Abraham , “ As for you , you shall 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 your offspring after you : Every male among you shall be circumcised . 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins , and it shall be a z sign of the covenant between me and you . 12 He who is a eight days old among you shall be circumcised . Every male throughout your generations , whether born in your house or b bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring , 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money , shall surely be circumcised . So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant . 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people ; he has broken my covenant . ” Isaac’s Birth Promised 15 And God said to Abraham , “ As for Sarai your wife , you shall not call her name Sarai , but Sarah shall be her name . 16 I will bless her , and moreover , I will c give you a son by her . I will bless her , and d she shall become nations ; kings of peoples shall come from her . ” 17 Then Abraham e fell on his face f and laughed and said to himself , “ Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old ? Shall Sarah , who is ninety years old , bear a child ? ” 18 And Abraham said to God , “ Oh that Ishmael might live before you ! ” 19 God said , “ No , but g Sarah your wife shall bear you a son , and you shall call his name h Isaac . I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him . 20 As for Ishmael , I have heard you ; behold , I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and i multiply him greatly . He j shall father twelve princes , and k I will make him into a great nation . 21 But l I will establish my covenant with Isaac , m whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year . ” 22 When he had finished talking with him , n God went up from Abraham . 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money , every male among the men of Abraham’s house , and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day , as God had said to him . 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin . 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin . 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised . 27 And all the men of his house , those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner , were circumcised with him .

18 And the Lord appeared to him by the o oaks of Mamre , as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day . 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked , and behold , three men were standing in front of him . p When he saw them , he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said , “ O Lord , if I have found favor in your sight , do not pass by your servant . 4 Let a q little water be brought , and wash your feet , and rest yourselves under the tree , 5 while I bring a morsel of bread , that r you may refresh yourselves , and after that you may pass on — s since you have come to your servant . ” So they said , “ Do as you have said . ” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said , “ Quick ! Three seahs of fine flour ! Knead it , and make cakes . ” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf , tender and good , and gave it to a young man , who prepared it quickly . 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared , and set it before them . And he stood by them under the tree while they ate . 9 They said to him , “ Where is Sarah your wife ? ” And he said , “ She is t in the tent . ” 10 The Lord said , “ I will surely return to you u about this time next year , and v Sarah your wife shall have a son . ” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him . 11 Now w Abraham and Sarah were old , advanced in years . The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah . 12 x So Sarah laughed to herself , saying , y “ After I am worn out , and z my lord is old , shall I have pleasure ? ” 13 The Lord said to Abraham , “ Why did Sarah laugh and say , ‘ Shall I indeed bear a child , now that I am old ? ’ 14 a Is anything too hard for the Lord ? b At the appointed time I will return to you , about this time next year , and Sarah shall have a son . ” 15 But Sarah denied it , saying , “ I did not laugh , ” for she was afraid . He said , “ No , but you did laugh . ” 16 Then the men set out from there , and they looked down toward Sodom . And Abraham went with them to set them on their way . 17 The Lord said , c “ Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do , 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation , and all the nations of the earth shall be d blessed in him ? 19 For I have e chosen him , that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice , so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him . ” 20 Then the Lord said , “ Because f the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave , 21 g I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me . And if not , h I will know . ” Abraham Intercedes for Sodom 22 i So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom , but Abraham j still stood before the Lord . 23 Then Abraham drew near and said , k “ Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked ? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city . Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it ? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing , to put the righteous to death with the wicked , l so that the righteous fare as the wicked ! Far be that from you ! m Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just ? ” 26 And the Lord said , n “ If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city , I will spare the whole place for their sake . ” 27 Abraham answered and said , o “ Behold , I have undertaken to speak to the Lord , I who am but dust and ashes . 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking . Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five ? ” And he said , “ I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there . ” 29 Again he spoke to him and said , “ Suppose forty are found there . ” He answered , “ For the sake of forty I will not do it . ” 30 Then he said , “ Oh let not the Lord be angry , and I will speak . Suppose thirty are found there . ” He answered , “ I will not do it , if I find thirty there . ” 31 He said , “ Behold , I have undertaken to speak to the Lord . Suppose twenty are found there . ” He answered , “ For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it . ” 32 Then he said , p “ Oh let not the Lord be angry , and I will speak again but this once . Suppose ten are found there . ” He answered , “ For the sake of ten I will not destroy it . ” 33 And the Lord went his way , when he had finished speaking to Abraham , and Abraham returned to his place .

God Rescues Lot 19 The q two angels came to Sodom in the evening , and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom . When Lot saw them , he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said , “ My lords , r please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night s and wash your feet . Then you may rise up early and go on your way . ” They said , t “ No ; we will spend the night in the town square . ” 3 But he pressed them strongly ; so they turned aside to him and entered his house . And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread , and they ate . 4 But before they lay down , the men of the city , the men of Sodom , both young and old , all the people to the last man , surrounded the house . 5 u And they called to Lot , “ Where are the men who came to you tonight ? v Bring them out to us , that we w may know them . ” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance , shut the door after him , 7 and said , “ I beg you , my brothers , do not act so wickedly . 8 x Behold , I have two daughters who have not known any man . Let me bring them out to you , and do to them as you please . Only do nothing to these men , for they have come under the shelter of my roof . ” 9 But they said , “ Stand back ! ” And they said , “ This fellow y came to sojourn , and z he has become the judge ! Now we will deal worse with you than with them . ” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot , and drew near to break the door down . 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door . 11 And they struck with a blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house , both small and great , so that they wore themselves out groping for the door . 12 Then the men said to Lot , “ Have you anyone else here ? Sons-in-law , sons , daughters , or anyone you have in the city , b bring them out of the place . 13 For we are about to destroy this place , c because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord , and the Lord has sent us to destroy it . ” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law , who were to marry his daughters , d “ Up ! Get out of this place , for the Lord is about to destroy the city . ” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting . 15 As morning dawned , the angels urged Lot , saying , “ Up ! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here , lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city . ” 16 But he lingered . So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand , e the Lord being merciful to him , and they brought him out and set him outside the city . 17 And as they brought them out , one said , “ Escape for your life . f Do not look back or stop anywhere in the g valley . Escape to the hills , lest you be swept away . ” 18 And Lot said to them , “ Oh , no , my lords . 19 Behold , your servant has found favor in your sight , and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life . But I cannot escape to the hills , lest the disaster overtake me and I die . 20 Behold , this city is near enough to flee to , and it is a little one . Let me escape there — is it not a little one ? — and my life will be saved ! ” 21 He said to him , “ Behold , I grant you this favor also , that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken . 22 Escape there quickly , for I can do nothing till you arrive there . ” Therefore the name of the city was called h Zoar . God Destroys Sodom 23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar . 24 Then i the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven . 25 And he overthrew those cities , and all the valley , and all the inhabitants of the cities , and what grew on the ground . 26 But Lot’s wife , behind him , looked back , and she became j a pillar of salt . 27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had k stood before the Lord . 28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley , and he looked and , behold , the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace . 29 So it was that , when God destroyed the cities of the valley , God l remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived . Lot and His Daughters 30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar and m lived in the hills with his two daughters , for he was afraid to live in Zoar . So he lived in a cave with his two daughters . 31 And the firstborn said to the younger , “ Our father is old , and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth . 32 Come , let us make our father drink wine , and we will lie with him , that we may preserve offspring from our father . ” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night . And the firstborn went in and lay with her father . He did not know when she lay down or when she arose . 34 The next day , the firstborn said to the younger , “ Behold , I lay last night with my father . Let us make him drink wine tonight also . Then you go in and lie with him , that we may preserve offspring from our father . ” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also . And the younger arose and lay with him , and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose . 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father . 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab . n He is the father of the Moabites to this day . 38 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi . o He is the father of the Ammonites to this day .

Abraham and Abimelech 20 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between p Kadesh and Shur ; and he q sojourned in r Gerar . 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife , s “ She is my sister . ” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah . 3 t But God came to Abimelech u in a dream by night and said to him , “ Behold , you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken , for she is a man’s wife . ” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her . So he said , v “ Lord , will you kill an innocent people ? 5 Did he not himself say to me , ‘ She is my sister ’ ? And she herself said , ‘ He is my brother . ’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this . ” 6 Then God said to him in the dream , “ Yes , I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart , and it was I who kept you from sinning w against me . Therefore I did not let you touch her . 7 Now then , return the man’s wife , x for he is a prophet , so that he will pray for you , and you shall live . But if you do not return her , know that you shall surely die , you y and all who are yours . ” 8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things . And the men were very much afraid . 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him , “ What have you done to us ? And how have I sinned against you , that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin ? You have done to me things that ought not to be done . ” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham , “ What did you see , that you did this thing ? ” 11 Abraham said , “ I did it because I thought , z ‘ There is no fear of God at all in this place , and a they will kill me because of my wife . ’ 12 Besides , b she is indeed my sister , the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother , and she became my wife . 13 And when c God caused me to wander from my father’s house , I said to her , ‘ This is the kindness you must do me : at every place to which we come , d say of me , “ He is my brother . ” ’ ” 14 Then Abimelech e took sheep and oxen , and male servants and female servants , and gave them to Abraham , and returned Sarah his wife to him . 15 And Abimelech said , “ Behold , f my land is before you ; dwell where it pleases you . ” 16 To Sarah he said , “ Behold , I have given g your brother a thousand pieces of silver . It is h a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you , and before everyone you are vindicated . ” 17 Then i Abraham prayed to God , and God healed Abimelech , and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children . 18 For the Lord j had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah , Abraham’s wife .