18 And the Lord appeared to him by the ^(A)oaks^[a] of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. ² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. ^(B)When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth

⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is ^(A)in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you ^(B)about this time next year, and ^(C)Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(D)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ^12 (E)So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ^(F)“After I am worn out, and ^(G)my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ^14 (H)Is anything too hard^[a] for the Lord? ^(I)At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it,^[b] saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”