Genesis 16-19

New American Standard Bible

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now ^(A)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had ^(B)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. ^(C)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will ^[a]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ And so after Abram had lived ^(D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. ⁴ Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. ⁵ So Sarai said to Abram, “^(E)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your ^[b]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her ^[c]sight. ^(F)May the Lord judge between ^[d]you and me.” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your ^[e]power; do to her what is good in your ^[f]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ^(G)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now ^(H)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^(I)Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, ^(J)from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit ^[g]to her authority.” ¹⁰ The ^(K)angel of the Lord also said to her, “^(L)I will greatly multiply your ^[h]descendants so that ^[i]they will be too many to count.” ¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her further,

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “^[l]You are ^[m]a God who sees me”; for she said, “^(P)Have I even seen Him here and lived after ^[n]He saw me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^[o]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^(Q)Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was ^(R)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ^[p]him.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(S)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(X)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(AB)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[v]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(AC)everlasting covenant, ^(AD)to be God to you and ^(AE)to your ^[w]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(AF)I will give to you and to your ^[x]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(AG)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(AH)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[y]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (AI)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[z]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(AJ)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(AK)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[aa]descendants. ¹³ A slave who is born in your house or ^(AL)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(AM)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name ^[ab]Sarai, but ^[ac]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(AN)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(AO)kings of peoples will ^[ad]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(AP)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(AQ)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you ^(AR)a son, and you shall name him ^[ae]Isaac; and ^(AS)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[af]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(AT)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(AU)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(AV)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(AW)Isaac, whom ^(AX)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(AY)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(AZ)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, ^(BA)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(BB)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(BC)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. ²⁷ And all the men of his household, those who were ^(BD)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(BE)the Lord appeared to ^[ag]Abraham by the ^[ah](BF)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three ^(BG)men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, “^[ai]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[aj]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(BH)wash ^[ak]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[al](BI)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[am]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[an]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[ao]Quickly, prepare three ^[ap]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[aq]choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree ^[ar]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(BJ)I will certainly return to you ^[as]at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(BK)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(BL)past ^[at]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[au]to herself, saying, “^(BM)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(BN)lord being old also?” ¹³ But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’ ^14 (BO)Is anything too ^[av]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(BP)appointed time I will return to you, ^[aw]at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Then ^(BQ)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ^17 (BR)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(BS)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[ax]mighty nation, and in him ^(BT)all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have ^[ay](BU)chosen him, so that he may ^(BV)command his children and his household after him to ^(BW)keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham ^(BX)what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “^(BY)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will ^(BZ)go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

Abraham Appeals for Sodom

²² Then ^(CA)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(CB)the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached and said, “^(CC)Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not ^[az]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[ba]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! Shall not ^(CD)the Judge of all the earth ^[bb]deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “^(CE)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will ^[bc]spare the entire place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ^[bd]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only ^(CF)dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have ^[be]ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” ³² Then he said, “^(CG)Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham ^(CH)the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

The Doom of Sodom

19 Now the ^(CI)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When ^(CJ)Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and ^[bf]bowed down with his face to the ground. ² And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” ³ Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; ^(CK)and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they lay down, ^(CL)the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people ^[bg]from every quarter; ⁵ and they called to Lot and said to him, “^(CM)Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may ^[bh]have relations with them.” ⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. ⁸ Now look, ^(CN)I have two daughters who have not ^[bi]had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them ^[bj]whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the ^[bk]shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in ^[bl]as a foreigner, and already ^(CO)he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against ^[bm]Lot and moved forward to break the door. ¹⁰ But ^(CP)the men reached out their ^[bn]hands and brought Lot into the house ^[bo]with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then ^(CQ)they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³ for we are about to destroy this place, because ^(CR)their outcry has become so great before the Lord that ^(CS)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who ^[bp]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, ^(CT)get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” ^(CU)But he appeared to his sons-in-law ^[bq]to be joking.

¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the ^[br]punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men ^(CV)grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the ^[bs]hands of his two daughters, because ^(CW)the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, ^[bt]one said, “^(CX)Escape for your life! ^(CY)Do not look behind you, and do not stay ^[bu]anywhere in the ^(CZ)surrounding area; escape to ^(DA)the ^[bv]mountains, or you will be swept away.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! ¹⁹ Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the ^[bw]mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; ²⁰ now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) ^[bx]so that my life may be saved.” ²¹ And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this ^[by]request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named ^[bz](DB)Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord ^(DC)rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and ^(DD)He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But ^[ca]Lot’s wife, from behind him, ^(DE)looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to ^(DF)the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and ^[cb]behold, he saw ^(DG)the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a ^[cc]furnace.

²⁹ So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that ^(DH)God remembered Abraham, and ^(DI)sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰ Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and ^(DJ)stayed in the ^[cd]mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man ^[ce]on earth to ^[cf](DK)have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, ^(DL)let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep ^[cg]our family alive through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep ^[ch]our family alive through our father.” ³⁵ So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁶ And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him ^(DM)Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of ^[ci]the sons of ^(DN)Ammon to this day.