Genesis 16-19

Names of God Bible

Abram and Hagar

16 Sarai, Abram’s wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Yahweh has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed with Sarai.

³ After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be disrespectful to Sarai, her owner.

⁵ So Sarai complained to Abram, “I’m being treated unfairly! And it’s your fault! I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s being disrespectful to me. May Yahweh decide who is right—you or me.”

⁶ Abram answered Sarai, “Here, she’s your slave. Do what you like with her.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away.

⁷ The Messenger of Yahweh found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She answered, “I’m running away from my owner Sarai.” ⁹ The Messenger of Yahweh said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority.” ¹⁰ The Messenger of Yahweh also said to her, “I will give you many descendants. No one will be able to count them because there will be so many.” ¹¹ Then the Messenger of Yahweh said to her,

¹³ Hagar named Yahweh, who had been speaking to her, “You Are El Roi.” She said, “This is the place where I watched the one who watches over me.” ¹⁴ This is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi [Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me]. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named him Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

The Lord’s Fifth Promise to Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, Yahweh appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am El Shadday. Live in my presence with integrity. ² I will give you my promise,^[b] and I will give you very many descendants.” ³ Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again Elohim spoke to him, ⁴ “My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. ⁵ So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your Elohim and the God of your descendants. ⁸ I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your Elohim.”

⁹ Elohim also said to Abraham, “You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. ¹⁰ This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. ¹¹ All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. ¹² For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you. ¹³ Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.”

¹⁵ Elohim said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess]. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become a mother of nations, and kings will come from her.” ¹⁷ Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?” ¹⁸ Then Abraham said to Elohim, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”

¹⁹ Elohim replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. ²⁰ I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will make my promise to Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this time next year.” ²² When Elohim finished speaking with Abraham, he left him.

Abraham’s Household Circumcised

²³ So Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with money—every male in his household—and circumcised them that day, as Elohim had told him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁶ That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his household, whether born in the household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Lord’s Sixth Promise to Abraham

18 Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oak trees belonging to Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. ² Abraham looked up, and suddenly he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them, and he bowed with his face touching the ground.

³ “Please, sir,” Abraham said, “stop by to visit me for a while. ⁴ Why don’t we let someone bring a little water? After you wash your feet, you can stretch out and rest under the tree. ⁵ Let me bring some bread so that you can regain your strength. After that you can leave, since this is why you stopped by to visit me.”

They answered, “That’s fine. Do as you say.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to find Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three measures of flour, knead it, and make bread.”

⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to his servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Abraham took cheese and milk, as well as the meat, and set these in front of them. Then he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹ They asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

He answered, “Over there, in the tent.”

¹⁰ Yahweh said, “I promise I’ll come back to you next year at this time, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah happened to be listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were old. Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² And so Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “Now that I’ve become old, will I enjoy myself again? What’s more, my husband is old!”

¹³ Yahweh asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child now that I’m old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? I will come back to you next year at this time, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Because she was afraid, Sarah denied that she had laughed.

But Yahweh said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord Tells Abraham about His Plan

¹⁶ Then the men got up to leave. As Abraham was walking with them to see them off, they looked toward Sodom. ¹⁷ Yahweh said, “I shouldn’t hide what I am going to do from Abraham. ¹⁸ After all, Abraham is going to become a great and mighty nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁹ I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his family after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is right and just. In this way I, Yahweh, will do what I have promised Abraham.”

²⁰ Yahweh also said, “Sodom and Gomorrah have many complaints against them, and their sin is very serious. ²¹ I must go down and see whether these complaints are true. If not, I will know it.”

²² From there the men turned and went on toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of Yahweh. ²³ Abraham came closer and asked, “Are you really going to sweep away the innocent with the guilty? ²⁴ What if there are 50 innocent people in the city? Are you really going to sweep them away? Won’t you spare that place for the sake of the 50 innocent people who are in it? ²⁵ It would be unthinkable for you to do such a thing, to treat the innocent and the guilty alike and to kill the innocent with the guilty. That would be unthinkable! Won’t the judge of the whole earth do what is fair?”

²⁶ Yahweh said, “If I find 50 innocent people inside the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷ Abraham asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m only dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if there are 45 innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of 5 fewer people?”

Yahweh answered, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”

²⁹ Abraham asked him again, “What if 40 are found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of the 40 I will not do it.”

³⁰ “Please don’t be angry if I speak again,” Abraham said. “What if 30 are found there?”

He answered, “If I find 30 there, I will not do it.”

³¹ “Look now, if I may be so bold as to ask you,” Abraham said. “What if 20 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.”

³² “Please don’t be angry if I speak only one more time,” Abraham said. “What if 10 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.” ³³ When Yahweh finished speaking to Abraham, he left. Abraham returned home.

Lot’s Guests Are Assaulted

19 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face touching the ground. ² He said, “Please, gentlemen, why don’t you come to my home and spend the night? You can wash your feet there. Then early tomorrow morning you can continue your journey.”

“No,” they answered, “we’d rather spend the night in the city square.”

³ But he insisted so strongly that they came with him and went into his home. He prepared a special dinner for them, baked some unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the young and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

⁶ Then Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ⁷ “Please, my friends, don’t be so wicked,” he said. ⁸ “Look, I have two daughters who have never had sex. Why don’t you let me bring them out to you? Do whatever you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, since I’m responsible for them.”

⁹ But the men yelled, “Get out of the way! This man came here to stay awhile. Now he wants to be our judge! We’re going to treat you worse than those men.” They pushed hard against Lot and lunged forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ The men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck all the men who were in the doorway of the house, young and old alike, with blindness so that they gave up trying to find the door.

Lot Leaves Sodom, and the Cities Are Destroyed

¹² Then the men asked Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—any in-laws, sons, daughters, or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here ¹³ because we’re going to destroy this place. The complaints to Yahweh against its people are so loud that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to the men engaged to his daughters. He said, “Hurry! Get out of this place, because Yahweh is going to destroy the city.” But they thought he was joking.

¹⁵ As soon as it was dawn, the angels urged Lot by saying, “Quick! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you’ll be swept away when the city is punished.” ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grabbed him, his wife, and his two daughters by their hands, because Yahweh wanted to spare Lot. They brought them safely outside the city. ¹⁷ As soon as they were outside, one of the angels said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop on the plain. Run for the hills, or you’ll be swept away!”

¹⁸ Lot answered, “Oh no! ¹⁹ Even though you’ve been so good to me and though you’ve been very kind to me by saving my life, I can’t run as far as the hills. This disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, there’s a city near enough to flee to, and it’s small. Why don’t you let me run there? Isn’t it small? Then my life will be saved.”

²¹ The angel said to him, “Alright, I will grant you this request too. I will not destroy the city you’re talking about. ²² Run there quickly, because I can’t do anything until you get there.” (The city is named Zoar [Small].)

²³ The sun had just risen over the land as Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then Yahweh made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵ He destroyed those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. ²⁶ Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a column of salt.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham came to the place where he had stood in front of Yahweh. ²⁸ When he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land in the plain, he saw smoke rising from the land like the thick smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ When Elohim destroyed the cities on the plain, Elohim remembered Abraham. Lot was allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he was living.

Lot’s Daughters Have Sons by Their Father

³⁰ Lot left Zoar because he was afraid to stay there. He and his two daughters settled in the mountains where they lived in a cave. ³¹ The older daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old. No men are here. We can’t get married as other people do. ³² Let’s give our father wine to drink. Then we’ll go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³³ That night they gave their father wine to drink. Then the older one went to bed with her father. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger one, “I did it! Last night I went to bed with my father. Let’s give him wine to drink again tonight. Then you go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ That night they gave their father wine to drink again. Then the younger one went to bed with him. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁶ So Lot’s two daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older one gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.