19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while 1 Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. 2 When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.
19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night 3 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 4 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 5
19:3 But he urged 6 them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, 7 all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. 8 19:5 They shouted to Lot, 9 “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex 10 with them!”
19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 11 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with 12 a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. 13 Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection 14 of my roof.” 15
19:9 “Out of our way!” 16 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 17 and now he dares to judge us! 18 We’ll do more harm 19 to you than to them!” They kept 20 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 21 to break down the door.
19:10 So the men inside 22 reached out 23 and pulled Lot back into the house 24 as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, 25 with blindness. The men outside 26 wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors 27 said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? 28 Do you have 29 any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? 30 Get them out of this 31 place 19:13 because we are about to destroy 32 it. The outcry against this place 33 is so great before the Lord that he 34 has sent us to destroy it.”
19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 35 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 36 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 37
19:15 At dawn 38 the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 39 or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 40 19:16 When Lot 41 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 42 They led them away and placed them 43 outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they 44 said, “Run 45 for your lives! Don’t look 46 behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! 47 Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! 48 19:19 Your 49 servant has found favor with you, 50 and you have shown me great 51 kindness 52 by sparing 53 my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because 54 this disaster will overtake 55 me and I’ll die. 56 19:20 Look, this town 57 over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. 58 Let me go there. 59 It’s just a little place, isn’t it? 60 Then I’ll survive.” 61
19:21 “Very well,” he replied, 62 “I will grant this request too 63 and will not overthrow 64 the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, 65 for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) 66
19:23 The sun had just risen 67 over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 68 19:24 Then the Lord rained down 69 sulfur and fire 70 on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. 71 19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, 72 including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew 73 from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s 74 wife looked back longingly 75 and was turned into a pillar of salt.
19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went 76 to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward 77 Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. 78 As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 79
19:29 So when God destroyed 80 the cities of the region, 81 God honored 82 Abraham’s request. He removed Lot 83 from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed 84 the cities Lot had lived in.
19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 Later the older daughter said 85 to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby 86 to have sexual relations with us, 87 according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine 88 so we can have sexual relations 89 with him and preserve 90 our family line through our father.” 91
19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 92 and the older daughter 93 came and had sexual relations with her father. 94 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 95 19:34 So in the morning the older daughter 96 said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. 97 Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 98 19:35 So they made their father drunk 99 that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. 100 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 101
19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter 102 gave birth to a son and named him Moab. 103 He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. 104 He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev 105 region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident 106 in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared 107 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 108 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 109
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 110 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 111 20:5 Did Abraham 112 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 113 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 114 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 115 That is why I have kept you 116 from sinning against me and why 117 I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 118 he is a prophet 119 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 120 But if you don’t give her back, 121 know that you will surely die 122 along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning 123 Abimelech summoned 124 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 125 they 126 were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? 127 You have done things to me that should not be done!” 128 20:10 Then Abimelech asked 129 Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” 130
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, 131 ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of 132 my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, 133 she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander 134 from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: 135 Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave 136 sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” 137
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver 138 to your ‘brother.’ 139 This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” 140
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord 141 had caused infertility to strike every woman 142 in the household of Abimelech because he took 143 Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21:1 The Lord visited 144 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 145 for Sarah what he had promised. 146 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 147 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 148 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 149 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 150 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 151
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 152 Everyone who hears about this 153 will laugh 154 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 155 “Who would 156 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 157 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 158 21:9 But Sarah noticed 159 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 160 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 161 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 162 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 163 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 164 all that Sarah is telling 165 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 166 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 167 some food 168 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 169 and sent her away. So she went wandering 170 aimlessly through the wilderness 171 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 172 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 173 away; for she thought, 174 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 175 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 176
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 177 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 178 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 179 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 180 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 181 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 182
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 183 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 184 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 185 Show me, and the land 186 where you are staying, 187 the same loyalty 188 that I have shown you.” 189
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 190 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 191 against Abimelech concerning a well 192 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 193 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 194 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 195 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 196 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 197 that I dug this well.” 198 21:31 That is why he named that place 199 Beer Sheba, 200 because the two of them swore 201 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 202 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 203 to the land of the Philistines. 204 21:33 Abraham 205 planted a tamarisk tree 206 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 207 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 208
22:1 Some time after these things God tested 209 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 210 replied. 22:2 God 211 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 212 – and go to the land of Moriah! 213 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 214 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 215 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 216 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 217 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 218 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 219 said to his servants, “You two stay 220 here with the donkey while 221 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 222 and then return to you.” 223
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 224 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 225 “My father?” “What is it, 226 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 227 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 228 for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 229 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 230 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter 231 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 232 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 233 the angel said. 234 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 235 that you fear 236 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 237 and saw 238 behind him 239 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 240 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” 241 It is said to this day, 242 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 243
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 244 decrees the Lord, 245 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 246 and I will greatly multiply 247 your descendants 248 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 249 of the strongholds 250 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 251 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 252 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 253 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 254
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 255 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 256 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 257 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham 266 by the oaks 267 of Mamre while 268 he was sitting at the entrance 269 to his tent during the hottest time of the day.