Three Men Visit Abraham

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the large trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent. It was the hottest time of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. So he quickly left the entrance to his tent to greet them. He bowed low to the ground.

³ He said, “My lord, if you are pleased with me, don’t pass me by. ⁴ Let me get you some water. Then all of you can wash your feet and rest under this tree. ⁵ Let me get you something to eat to give you strength. Then you can go on your way. I want to do this for you now that you have come to me.”

“All right,” they answered. “Do as you say.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick!” he said. “Get about 36 pounds of the finest flour. Prepare it and bake some bread.”

⁷ Then he ran over to the herd. He picked out a choice, tender calf. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ Then he brought some butter and milk and the calf that had been prepared. He served them to the three men. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“Over there in the tent,” he said.

¹⁰ Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year. Your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already very old. Sarah was too old to have a baby. ¹² So she laughed to herself. She thought, “I’m worn out, and my husband is old. Can I really know the joy of having a baby?”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Will I really have a baby, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for me? I will return to you at the appointed time next year. Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah was afraid. So she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”

But the Lord said, “Yes, you laughed.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶ The men got up to leave. They looked down toward Sodom. Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ He will certainly become a great and powerful nation. All nations on earth will be blessed because of him. ¹⁹ I have chosen him. He must direct his children to live in the way that pleases me. And he must direct the members of his family after him to do the same. So he must guide all of them in doing what is right and fair. Then I, the Lord, will do for Abraham what I have promised him.”

²⁰ The Lord also said, “The cries against Sodom and Gomorrah are very great. Their sin is so bad ²¹ that I will go down and see for myself. I want to see if what they have done is as bad as the cries that have reached me. If it is not, then I will know.”

²² The men turned away and went toward Sodom. But Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham came up to him. He said, “Will you sweep away godly people along with those who are evil? ²⁴ What if there are 50 godly people in the city? Will you really sweep it away? Won’t you spare the place because of the 50 godly people in it? ²⁵ You would never kill godly people along with those who are evil, would you? Would you treat them all alike? You would never do anything like that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is right?”

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find 50 godly people in the city of Sodom, I will spare it. I will spare the whole place because of them.”

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again. He said, “I have been very bold to speak to the Lord. After all, I’m only dust and ashes. ²⁸ What if the number of godly people is five fewer than 50? Will you destroy the whole city because there are five fewer people?”

“If I find 45 there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ Once again Abraham spoke to him. He asked, “What if only 40 are found there?”

He said, “If there are 40, I will not do it.”

³⁰ Then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me. Let me speak. What if only 30 can be found there?”

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

³¹ Abraham said, “I have been very bold to speak to the Lord. What if only 20 can be found there?”

He said, “If I find 20, I will not destroy it.”

³² Then he said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me. Let me speak just one more time. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “If I find ten, I will not destroy it.”

³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham returned home.

Isaac Is Born

21 The Lord was gracious to Sarah, just as he had said he would be. The Lord did for Sarah what he had promised to do. ² Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. The child was born at the exact time God had promised. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. He did it exactly as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ Sarah said, “God has given laughter to me. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would breast-feed children? But I’ve had a son by him when he is old.”

Abraham Sends Hagar and Ishmael Away

⁸ Isaac grew. The time came for his mother to stop breast-feeding him. On that day Abraham prepared a big celebration. ⁹ But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. Ishmael was the son Hagar had by Abraham. Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian slave. ¹⁰ Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman! Get rid of her son! That woman’s son will never have a share of the family’s property. All of it belongs to my son Isaac.”

¹¹ What Sarah said upset Abraham very much. After all, Ishmael was his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be so upset about the boy and your slave Hagar. Listen to what Sarah tells you, because your family line will continue through Isaac. ¹³ I will also make the son of your slave into a nation. I will do it because he is your child.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham got some food and a bottle of water. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He gave the food and water to Hagar, placing them on her shoulders. Then he sent her away with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the bottle was gone, she put the boy under a bush. ¹⁶ Then she sat down about as far away as a person can shoot an arrow. She thought, “I can’t stand to watch the boy die.” As she sat there, she began to sob.

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying. Then the angel of God called out to Hagar from heaven. He said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Lift up the boy and take him by the hand. I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and learned to shoot a bow and arrow. ²¹ While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

The Agreement at Beersheba

²² At that time Abimelek and his army commander, Phicol, spoke to Abraham. They said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. ²³ Now make a promise to me here while God is watching. Give me your word that you will treat me fairly. Promise that you will treat my children and their children the same way. I’ve been kind to you. Now you be kind to me and the country where you are living as an outsider.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I give you my word that I’ll do it.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelek that his servants had taken over a well of water. ²⁶ But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You didn’t tell me. And today is the first time I heard about it.”

²⁷ So Abraham gave Abimelek sheep and cattle. The two men came to an agreement. ²⁸ Then Abraham picked out seven female lambs from his flock. ²⁹ Abimelek asked Abraham, “What’s the meaning of these seven female lambs? Why have you picked them out and set them apart?”

³⁰ Abraham replied, “Accept the seven lambs from me. They will be a witness that I dug this well.”

³¹ So that place was named Beersheba. That’s because there the two men came to an agreement.

³² After the agreement had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek went back to the land of the Philistines. His army commander, Phicol, went with him. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. There he called on the name of the Lord, the God who lives forever. ³⁴ Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

God Tests Abraham

22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” Abraham replied.

² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son. He is the one you love. Take Isaac. Go to the place called Moriah. Give your son to me there as a burnt offering. Sacrifice him on the mountain I will show you.”

³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took two of his servants and his son Isaac with him. He cut enough wood for the burnt offering. Then he started out for the place God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham saw the place a long way off. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship. Then we’ll come back to you.”

⁶ Abraham had his son Isaac carry the wood for the burnt offering. He himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said. “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

⁹ They reached the place God had shown Abraham. There Abraham built an altar. He arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac. Abraham placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand. He picked up the knife to kill his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven. He said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” Abraham replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not harm him. Now I know that you would do anything for God. You have not held back from me your son, your only son.”

¹³ Abraham looked around. There in a bush he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram. He sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. To this day people say, “It will be provided on the mountain of the Lord.”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven a second time. ¹⁶ He said, “I am giving you my word that I will bless you. I will bless you because of what you have done,” announces the Lord. “You have not held back your son, your only son. ¹⁷ So I will certainly bless you. I will make the children born into your family as many as the stars in the sky. I will make them as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will take over the cities of their enemies. ¹⁸ All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children. All these things will happen because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants. They started out together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Nahor’s Sons

Milkah had the eight sons by Abraham’s brother Nahor.