18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham 1 by the oaks 2 of Mamre while 3 he was sitting at the entrance 4 to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham 5 looked up 6 and saw 7 three men standing across 8 from him. When he saw them 9 he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low 10 to the ground. 11
18:3 He said, “My lord, 12 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. 13 18:4 Let a little water be brought so that 14 you may all 15 wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get 16 a bit of food 17 so that you may refresh yourselves 18 since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” 19 “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take 20 three measures 21 of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 22 18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, 23 who quickly prepared it. 24 18:8 Abraham 25 then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food 26 before them. They ate while 27 he was standing near them under a tree.
18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, 28 in the tent.” 18:10 One of them 29 said, “I will surely return 30 to you when the season comes round again, 31 and your wife Sarah will have a son!” 32 (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 33 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; 34 Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 35 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 36 “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, 37 especially when my husband is old too?” 38
18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why 39 did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really 40 have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible 41 for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 42 18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” 43
18:16 When the men got up to leave, 44 they looked out over 45 Sodom. (Now 46 Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 47 18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 48 18:18 After all, Abraham 49 will surely become 50 a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 51 using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him 52 so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep 53 the way of the Lord by doing 54 what is right and just. Then the Lord will give 55 to Abraham what he promised 56 him.”
18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against 57 Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 58 18:21 that I must go down 59 and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. 60 If not, 61 I want to know.”
18:22 The two men turned 62 and headed 63 toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 64 18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare 65 the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge 66 of the whole earth do what is right?” 67
18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord 68 (although I am but dust and ashes), 69 18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy 70 the whole city because five are lacking?” 71 He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
18:29 Abraham 72 spoke to him again, 73 “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
18:30 Then Abraham 74 said, “May the Lord not be angry 75 so that I may speak! 76 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31 Abraham 77 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32 Finally Abraham 78 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
18:33 The Lord went on his way 79 when he had finished speaking 80 to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. 81
2:4 This is the account 82 of the heavens and
the earth 83 when they were created – when the Lord God 84 made the earth and heavens. 85
2:5 Now 86 no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field 87 had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 88
40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: 89 “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. 40:10 On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. 40:11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his 90 cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 91
40:12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent 92 three days. 40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you 93 and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before 94 when you were cupbearer. 40:14 But remember me 95 when it goes well for you, and show 96 me kindness. 97 Make mention 98 of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison, 99 40:15 for I really was kidnapped 100 from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”
40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, 101 he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread 102 on my head. 40:17 In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”
40:18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent 103 three days. 40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you 104 and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”
41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 112 by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 113 41:19 Then 114 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 115 as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven 116 fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, 117 no one would have known 118 that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream 119 seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then 120 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this 121 to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” 122
41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. 123 God has revealed 124 to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 125 41:26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. 126 41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent 127 seven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told 128 Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur 129 after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate 130 the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered 131 because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. 132 41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh 133 because the matter has been decreed 134 by God, and God will make it happen soon. 135
41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 136 for a wise and discerning man 137 and give him authority 138 over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do 139 this – he should appoint 140 officials 141 throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt 142 during the seven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food 143 during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority 144 they should store up grain so the cities will have food, 145 and they should preserve it. 146 41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” 147
1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, 153 even prophesied of them, 154 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming 155 with thousands and thousands 156 of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on 157 all, and to convict every person 158 of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds 159 that they have committed, 160 and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 161