Genesis 16–18

1Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

2So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.

4And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

6“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

7Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

8“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.

9So the angel of the LORD told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.”

10Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”

11The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

12He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

13So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”

14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

3Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

4“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

5No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

7I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

9God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you.

10This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.

11You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

13Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.

14But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

16And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”

18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

21But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

22When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.

24So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,

25and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

26Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

27And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.

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.