¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(A)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(B)kings of peoples will ^[a]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(C)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(D)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 ^(E)a son, and you shall name him ^[b]Isaac; and ^(F)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[c]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(G)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(H)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(I)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(J)Isaac, whom ^(K)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(L)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(M)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, ^(N)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(O)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(P)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 ^(Q)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

¹⁰ He said, “^(A)I will certainly return to you ^[a]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 ^(B)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(C)past ^[b]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[c]to herself, saying, “^(D)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(E)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 (F)Is anything too ^[d]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(G)appointed time I will return to you, ^[e]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 ^(H)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ^17 (I)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(J)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[f]mighty nation, and in him ^(K)all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have ^[g](L)chosen him, so that he may ^(M)command his children and his household after him to ^(N)keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham ^(O)what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “^(P)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will ^(Q)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 ^(R)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(S)the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached and said, “^(T)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 ^[h]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[i]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 ^(U)the Judge of all the earth ^[j]deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “^(V)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will ^[k]spare the entire place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ^[l]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only ^(W)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 ^[m]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, “^(X)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 ^(Y)the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Isaac Is Born

21 ^(A)Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had ^[a]promised.

²⁸ And you, brothers and sisters, ^(A)like Isaac, are ^(B)children of promise.

¹¹ By faith even ^(A)Sarah herself received ^[a]ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him ^(B)faithful who had promised.