Bereshis 19-21

Orthodox Jewish Bible

19 And there came two malachim to Sodom at erev; and Lot sat in the sha’ar Sodom; and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

² And he said, Hinei, adonai (my masters), turn in, now, into the bais avdechem, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Lo; but we will abide the night in the rekhov.

³ And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his bais; and he made them a mishteh (meal, feast), and did bake matzot, and they did eat.

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the Ir, even the anshei Sodom, surrounded the bais, from na’ar to zeken, all the people from every quarter [of the city];

⁵ And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the anashim which came in to thee halailah (this night)? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them [carnally].

⁶ And Lot went outside unto them, and shut the delet after him,

⁷ And said, Now, achai (my brethren), do not so wickedly.

⁸ Hinei now, I have two banot which have not known man; now let me bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these anashim do nothing; for therefore came they under the tzel (shadow) of my korah (beam, roof).

⁹ And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn as a ger (alien), and he will now play the shofet; now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed strongly upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break down the delet.

¹⁰ But the anashim put forth their yad, and pulled Lot into the bais to them, and shut the delet.

¹¹ And they struck the men that were at the petach of the bais with blindness, both katan and gadol; so that they wearied themselves to find the petach.

¹² And the anashim said unto Lot, Hast thou here any one else? Choson (Son-in-law), and thy banim, and thy banot, and whatsoever thou hast in the Ir, bring them out of this makom (place);

¹³ For we are the mashchitim (ones destroying) this makom (place), because the cry of them is so gedolah before the face of Hashem; and Hashem hath sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴ And Lot went out, and spoke unto his chosonim, which were pledged to marry his banot, and said, Up, get you out of makom hazeh; for Hashem is mashchit (destroying) the Ir (City). But he seemed as one that metzachek (joked) unto his chosonim.

¹⁵ And when the shachar came, then the malachim urged Lot, saying, Arise, take thy isha, and thy two banot, which are here or thou be swept away in the avon haIr.

¹⁶ And while he lingered hesitating, the anashim laid hold upon his yad, and upon the yad of his isha, and upon the yad of his two banot; Hashem being merciful unto him; and they brought him out and set him outside the Ir.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that he said, Flee and escape for thy nefesh; look not back behind thee, neither stop thou anywhere in all the plain; flee and escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.

¹⁸ And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, Adonoi (My L-rd):

¹⁹ Hinei now, thy eved hath found chen in Thy sight, and Thou hast magnified Thy chesed, which Thou hast showed unto me in sparing my nefesh; and I cannot flee to escape to the mountain, lest some ra’ah overtake me, and I die;

²⁰ Hinei now, this Ir is near to run unto, and it is a little one; Oh, let me flee to escape there, (is it not mitzar [small]?) and my nefesh shall live.

²¹ And He said unto him, Hinei, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the Ir, for the which thou hast spoken.

²² Haste thee, flee to escape there; for I cannot do anything till thou arrive there. Therefore the shem of the Ir was called Tzoar [sounds like mitzar].

²³ The shemesh rose over ha’aretz when Lot entered Tzoar.

²⁴ Then Hashem rained upon Sodom and upon Amora gofrit and eish from Hashem out of Shomayim;

²⁵ And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and tzemach (what grew) upon haadamah.

²⁶ But his isha, from behind him, looked back, and she became a netziv melach (pillar of salt).

²⁷ And Avraham got up early in the boker to the makom where he stood there before Hashem;

²⁸ And he looked down toward Sodom and Amora, and toward all the eretz of the plain, and hinei, he saw kitor (smoke, steam) of the eretz go up like kitor of a furnace.

²⁹ And it came to pass, when Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, that zikron Avraham came to Elohim, and He sent Lot out of the midst of the hafekhah (upheaval, destruction, overthrow), when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

³⁰ And Lot left Tzoar, and dwelt in the har, and his two banot with him; for he feared to dwell in Tzoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two banot.

³¹ And the bechirah said unto the younger, Avinu is old, and there is not an ish in ha’aretz to come in unto us after the derech of kol ha’aretz:

³² Come, let us make avinu drink yayin, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve zera by avinu.

³³ And they made their av drink yayin balailah: and the bechirah went in, and lay with her av; and he had da’as not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁴ And it came to pass on the next day, that the bechirah said unto the younger, Hinei, I lay yesternight with avi. Let us make him drink yayin halailah also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve zera by avinu.

³⁵ And they made their av drink yayin balailah also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he had da’as not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁶ Thus were both the banot of Lot with child by their av.

³⁷ And the bechirah bore ben, and called shmo Moav; the same is the Avi Moav unto this day.

³⁸ And the younger, she also bore ben, and called shmo Ben-Ammi; the same is the Avi Bnei Ammon unto this day.

20 And Avraham journeyed from there toward the Negev region, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

² And Avraham said of Sarah his isha, She is my achot; and Avimelech Melech Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

³ But Elohim came to Avimelech in a chalom halailah, and said to him, See, thou art met (dead), for the isha which thou hast taken; for she is be’ulat ba’al (married of a husband).

⁴ But Avimelech had not come near her; and he said, Adonoi, wilt Thou slay also a goy tzaddik?

⁵ Said he not unto me, She is my achot? and she, even she herself said, He is achi: in the tohm (integrity, guilelessness) of my lev and with clean hands of my innocency have I done this.

⁶ And HaElohim said unto him in a chalom, Yea, I have da’as that thou didst this in the tohm (integrity, guilelessness) of thy lev; for I also withheld thee from sinning against Me; therefore allowed I thee not to touch her.

⁷ Now therefore restore the ish his isha; for he is a navi, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

⁸ Therefore Avimelech rose early in the boker, and called all his avadim, and told all these things in their ears; and the anashim were very afraid.

⁹ Then Avimelech called Avraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and how have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my mamlechah (kingdom) a chata’ah gedolah (great sin)? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

¹⁰ And Avimelech said unto Avraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

¹¹ And Avraham said, Because I thought, Surely the yirat Elohim is not in this place; and they will slay me on account of my isha.

¹² And yet indeed she is my achot; she is the bat avi, but not the bat immi; and she became my isha.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Elohim caused me to wander from my bais avi, that I said unto her, This is thy chesed which thou shalt show unto me; at every place where we shall come, say of me, He is achi.

¹⁴ And Avimelech took tzon, and oxen, and avadim, and shfachot, and gave them unto Avraham, and restored to him Sarah his isha.

¹⁵ And Avimelech said, Hinei, my land is before thee; dwell where it pleaseth thee.

¹⁶ And unto Sarah he said, Hinei, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of kesef; hinei, it is to thee a kesut einayim (covering of the eyes, exoneration), unto all that are with thee, and with all other; thus she was vindicated.

¹⁷ So Avraham davened unto Elohim: and Elohim healed Avimelech, and his isha, and his maidservants so that they bore children.

¹⁸ For Hashem had fast closed up kol rechem (every womb) of the bais Avimelech, on account of Sarah Avraham’s isha.

21 And Hashem visited Sarah as He had said, and Hashem did unto Sarah just as He had spoken.

² For Sarah conceived, and bore Avraham ben in his old age, at the mo’ed (set time) of which Elohim had given promise unto him.

³ And Avraham called the shem of bno that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitzchak.

⁴ And Avraham circumcised bno Yitzchak at age shemonat yamim, as Elohim had commanded him.

⁵ And Avraham was a hundred years old, when bno Yitzchak was born unto him.

⁶ And she said, Elohim hath brought me tzechok (laughter), so that all that hear yitzchak (will laugh) with me.

⁷ And she said, Who would have said unto Avraham, that Sarah should nurse banim? for I have borne him ben in his old age.

⁸ And the yeled grew, and was weaned; and Avraham made a mishteh gadol the same day that Yitzchak was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the ben of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Avraham, metzachek (mocking, scoffing).

¹⁰ Therefore she said unto Avraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her ben: for the ben of this bondwoman shall not be heir with beni (my son), even with Yitzchak.

¹¹ And the thing was very grievous in the eyes of Avraham because of bno.

¹² And Elohim said unto Avraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the na’ar, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, shema (pay heed) unto her voice; for in Yitzchak shall thy zera be called.

¹³ And also of the ben haamah will I make a nation, because he is thy zera.

¹⁴ And Avraham rose up early in the boker, and took lechem, and a skin of mayim, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the yeled, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the midbar of Beer-Sheva.

¹⁵ And the mayim in the skin was done, and she cast the yeled under one of the bushes.

¹⁶ And she went off, and sat down about a bowshot away: for she thought, Let me not see the mot hayeled. And she sat there nearby, and lifted up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷ And Elohim heard the voice of the na’ar; and the Malach Elohim called to Hagar out of Shomayim, and said unto her, Mah lach, Hagar? fear not; for Elohim hath heard the voice of the na’ar where he is.

¹⁸ Arise, lift up the na’ar, and hold him in thine yad; for I will make him a goy gadol.

¹⁹ And Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a be’er of mayim; and she went, and filled the skin with mayim, and gave the na’ar drink.

²⁰ And Elohim was with the na’ar; and he grew, and dwelt in the midbar, and became a roveh keshet (an archer).

²¹ And he dwelt in the midbar of Paran: and his em got him an isha out of Eretz Mitzrayim.

²² And it came to pass at that time, that Avimelech and Phichol the sar tz’va of his spoke unto Avraham, saying, Elohim is with thee in all that thou doest:

²³ Now therefore swear unto me here before Elohim that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my child, nor with my descendant: but according to the chesed that I have showed thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the eretz wherein thou hast sojourned.

²⁴ And Avraham said, I will swear.

²⁵ And Avraham reproved Avimelech because of a be’er hamayim, which Avimelech’s avadim had violently seized.

²⁶ And Avimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but today.

²⁷ And Avraham took tzon and oxen, and gave them unto Avimelech; and both of them made a brit.

²⁸ And Avraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the tzon by themselves.

²⁹ And Avimelech said unto Avraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set apart by themselves?

³⁰ And he said, For these sheva ewe lambs shalt thou accept of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have dug this well.

³¹ Therefore he called that place Beer-Sheva; because there they swore an oath both of them.

³² Thus they made a brit at Beer-Sheva: then Avimelech rose up, and Phichol the sar tzeva of his, and they returned into eretz Pelishtim.

³³ And Avraham planted an eshel (tamarisk tree) in Beer-Sheva, and called there on the Shem of Hashem El Olam.

³⁴ And Avraham sojourned in eretz Pelishtim yamim rabbim.