Genesis 16-18 (New American Standard Bible)

Genesis 16

Sarai and Hagar

 ¹Now ^(A)Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had ^(B)an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

 ²So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. ^(C)Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

 ³After Abram had lived ^(D)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

 ⁴He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

 ⁵And Sarai said to Abram, "^(E)May the wrong done me be upon you I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight ^(F)May the LORD judge between you and me."

 ⁶But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and ^(G)she fled from her presence.

 ⁷Now ^(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.

 ⁸He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, ^(J)where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."

 ⁹Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."

 ¹⁰Moreover, the ^(K)angel of the LORD said to her, "^(L)I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

 ¹¹The angel of the LORD said to her further,
         "Behold, you are with child,
         And you will bear a son;
         And you shall call his name ^[a]Ishmael,
         Because ^(M)the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
    ¹²"He will be a ^(N)wild donkey of a man,
         His hand will be against everyone,
         And everyone's hand will be against him;
         And he will live ^(O)to the east of all his brothers."

 ¹³Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees"; for she said, "^(P)Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?"

 ¹⁴Therefore the well was called ^[b]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^(Q)Kadesh and Bered.

 ¹⁵So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

 ¹⁶Abram was ^(R)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

Genesis 17

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

 ¹Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(S)the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,
         "I am God ^(T)Almighty;
         Walk before Me, and be ^(U)blameless.
    ²"I will establish My ^(V)covenant between Me and you,
         And I will ^(W)multiply you exceedingly."

 ³Abram ^(X)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
    ⁴"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
         And you will be the father of a ^(Y)multitude of nations.
    ⁵"No longer shall your name be called ^[c]Abram,
         But ^(Z)your name shall be ^[d]Abraham;
         For ^(AA)I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

 ⁶"I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(AB)kings will come forth from you.

 ⁷"I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an ^(AC)everlasting covenant, ^(AD)to be God to you and ^(AE)to your descendants after you.

 ⁸"^(AF)I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and ^(AG)I will be their God."

 ⁹God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, ^(AH)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

 ¹⁰"^(AI)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your 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, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

 ¹³"A servant who is born in your house or ^(AL)who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

 ¹⁴"But an uncircumcised male 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."

 ¹⁵Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[e]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 come from her."

 ¹⁷Then Abraham ^(AP)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And ^(AQ)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

 ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!"

 ¹⁹But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you ^(AR)a son, and you shall call his name ^[f]Isaac; and ^(AS)I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

 ²⁰"As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(AT)will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly ^(AU)He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a ^(AV)great nation.

 ²¹"But My covenant I will establish with ^(AW)Isaac, whom ^(AX)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year."

 ²²When He finished talking with him, ^(AY)God went up from Abraham.

 ²³Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants 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 in the very same day, ^(BA)as God had said to him.

 ²⁴Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(BB)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

 ²⁵And ^(BC)Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

 ²⁶In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

 ²⁷All the men of his household, who were ^(BD)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 18

Birth of Isaac Promised

 ¹Now ^(BE)the LORD appeared to him by the ^(BF)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

 ²When he lifted up 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 himself to the earth,

 ³and said, "My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.

 ⁴"Please let a little water be brought and ^(BH)wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree;

 ⁵and I will ^(BI)bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant." And they said, "So do, as you have said."

 ⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes."

 ⁷Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.

 ⁸He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.

 ⁹Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "There, in the tent."

 ¹⁰He said, "^(BJ)I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

 ¹¹Now ^(BK)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(BL)past childbearing.

 ¹²Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "^(BM)After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my ^(BN)lord being old also?"

 ¹³And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'

 ¹⁴"^(BO)Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the ^(BP)appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

 ¹⁵Sarah denied it however, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh."

 ¹⁶Then ^(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,

 ¹⁸since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him ^(BT)all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

 ¹⁹"For I have ^(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."

 ²⁰And 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 if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know."

 ²²Then ^(CA)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(CB)the LORD.

 ²³Abraham came near and said, "^(CC)Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

 ²⁴"Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

 ²⁵"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay 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 deal justly?"

 ²⁶So the LORD said, "^(CE)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account."

 ²⁷And Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but ^(CF)dust and ashes.

 ²⁸"Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."

 ²⁹He 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."

 ³⁰Then 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."

 ³¹And he said, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the twenty."

 ³²Then 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."

 ³³As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham ^(CH)the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.