Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, ^(A)had borne him no children. And she had ^(B)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was ^(C)Hagar. ^2 (D)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord ^(E)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, ^(F)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall ^[a]obtain children by her.” And Abram ^(G)heeded the voice of Sarai. ³ Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram ^(H)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. ⁴ So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became ^(I)despised in her ^[b]eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, ^[c]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. ^(J)The Lord judge between you and me.”

^6 (K)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, ^(L)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now the ^(M)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, ^(N)by the spring on the way to ^(O)Shur. ⁸ And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and ^(P)submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ^(Q)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-^[e]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here ^[f]seen Him ^(U)who sees me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^(V)Beer Lahai Roi;^[g] observe, it is ^(W)between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So ^(X)Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The Sign of the Covenant^(A)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(B)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(C)“I am ^[a]Almighty God; ^(D)walk before Me and be ^(E)blameless. ² And I will make My ^(F)covenant between Me and you, and ^(G)will multiply you exceedingly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(H)a father of ^[b]many nations. ⁵ No longer shall ^(I)your name be called ^[c]Abram, but your name shall be ^[d]Abraham; ^(J)for I have made you a father of ^[e]many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(K)nations of you, and ^(L)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(M)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, ^(N)to be God to you and ^(O)your descendants after you. ⁸ Also ^(P)I give to you and your descendants after you the land ^(Q)in^[f] which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(R)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham: “As for you, ^(S)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: ^(T)Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ¹¹ and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be ^(U)a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old among you ^(V)shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person ^(W)shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^[g]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her ^(X)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(Y)of nations; ^(Z)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face ^(AA)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham ^(AB)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, ^(AC)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(AD)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(AE)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(AF)twelve princes, ^(AG)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My ^(AH)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(AI)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(AJ)set time next year.” ²² Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

²³ So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; ²⁷ and ^(AK)all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Son of Promise^(A)

18 Then the Lord appeared to him by ^[a]the ^(B)terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. ^2 (C)So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; ^(D)and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, ³ and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. ⁴ Please let ^(E)a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ And ^(F)I will bring a morsel of bread, that ^(G)you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, ^(H)inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Do as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” ⁷ And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. ⁸ So ^(I)he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

So he said, “Here, ^(J)in the tent.”

¹⁰ And He said, “I will certainly return to you ^(K)according to the time of life, and behold, ^(L)Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) ¹¹ Now ^(M)Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and ^[b]Sarah ^(N)had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah ^(O)laughed within herself, saying, ^(P)“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my ^(Q)lord being old also?”

¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ^14 (R)Is anything too hard for the Lord? ^(S)At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

¹⁶ Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them ^(T)to send them on the way. ¹⁷ And the Lord said, ^(U)“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸ since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^(V)blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have known him, in order ^(W)that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “Because ^(X)the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their ^(Y)sin is very grave, ^21 (Z)I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, ^(AA)I will know.”

²² Then the men turned away from there ^(AB)and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham ^(AC)came near and said, ^(AD)“Would You also ^(AE)destroy the ^(AF)righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so ^(AG)that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^(AH)Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, ^(AI)“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ^(AJ)but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸ Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”

So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

³⁰ Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³² Then he said, ^(AK)“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

^(AL)And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” ³³ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

A Prayer for Guidance

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]flutes. A Psalm of David.