Beginning

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

² And Sarai said to Abram, See here, the Lord has restrained me from bearing [children]. I am asking you to have intercourse with my maid; it may be that I can obtain children by her. And Abram listened to and heeded what Sarai said.

³ So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her Egyptian maid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.

⁴ And he had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant; and when she saw that she was with child, she looked with contempt upon her mistress and despised her.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, May [the responsibility for] my wrong and deprivation of rights be upon you! I gave my maid into your bosom, and when she saw that she was with child, I was contemptible and despised in her eyes. May the Lord be the judge between you and me.

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, See here, your maid is in your hands and power; do as you please with her. And when Sarai dealt severely with her, humbling and afflicting her, she [Hagar] fled from her.

⁷ But ^[a]the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur.

⁸ And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from, and where are you intending to go? And she said, I am running away from my mistress Sarai.

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to your mistress and [humbly] submit to her control.

¹⁰ Also the Angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord continued, See now, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael [God hears], because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your affliction.

¹² And he [Ishmael] will be as a ^[b]wild ass among men; his hand will be against every man and every man’s hand against him, and he will live to the east and on the borders of all his kinsmen.

¹³ So she called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing, for she said, Have I [not] even here [in the wilderness] looked upon Him Who sees me [and lived]? Or have I here also seen [the future purposes or designs of] Him Who sees me?

¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me]; it is ^[c]between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore ^[d]Ishmael.

¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael.

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).

² And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him,

⁴ As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.

⁵ Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations.

⁶ And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and ^[e]kings will come from you.

⁷ And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you.^(A)

⁸ And I will give to you and to your posterity after you the land in which you are a stranger [going from place to place], all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.^(B)

⁹ And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall therefore 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 posterity after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token or sign of the covenant (the promise or pledge) between Me and you.

¹² He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether born in [your] house or bought with [your] money from any foreigner not of your offspring.

¹³ He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴ And the male who is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai; but Sarah [Princess] her name shall be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her and give you a son also by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?

¹⁸ And [he] said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!

¹⁹ But God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac [laughter]; and I will establish My covenant or solemn pledge with him for an everlasting covenant and with his posterity after him.

²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard and heeded you: behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly; He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. [Fulfilled in Gen. 25:12-18.]

²¹ But My covenant, My promise and pledge, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.

²² And God stopped talking with him and went up from Abraham.

²³ And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among [those] of Abraham’s house, and circumcised [them] the very same day, as God had said to him.

²⁴ And Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.

²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.

²⁶ On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son as well.

²⁷ And all the men of his house, both those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him.

18 Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks or terebinths 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 stood at a little distance from him. He ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the ground

³ And said, My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant, I beg of you.

⁴ Let a little water be brought, and you may wash your feet and recline and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ And I will bring a morsel (mouthful) of bread to refresh and sustain your hearts before you go on further—for that is why you have come to your servant. And they replied, Do as you have said.

⁶ So Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly get ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and bake cakes.

⁷ And Abraham ran to the herd and brought a calf tender and good and gave it to the young man [to butcher]; then he [Abraham] hastened to prepare it.

⁸ And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had made ready, and set it before [the men]; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, [She is here] in the tent.

^10 [f][The Lord] said, I will surely return to you when the season comes round, and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening and heard it at the tent door which was behind Him.^(C)

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years; it had ceased to be with Sarah as with [young] women. [She was past the age of childbearing].

¹² Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have become aged shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord (husband), being old also?^(D)

¹³ And the Lord asked Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I really bear a child when I am so old?

¹⁴ Is anything too hard or too wonderful ^[g]for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son.^(E)

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

¹⁶ The men rose up from there and faced toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

¹⁷ And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do,^(F)

¹⁸ Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him and shall bless themselves by him?^(G)

¹⁹ For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him.

²⁰ And the Lord said, Because the shriek [of the sins] of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is exceedingly grievous,

²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether [as vilely and wickedly] as is the cry of it which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.

²² Now the [two] men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.

²³ And Abraham came close and said, Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked?

²⁴ Suppose there are in the city fifty righteous; will You destroy the place and not spare it for [the sake of] the fifty righteous in it?

²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing—to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as do the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute judgment and do righteously?

²⁶ And the Lord said, If I find in the city of Sodom fifty righteous (upright and in right standing with God), I will spare the whole place for their sake.

²⁷ Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.

²⁸ If five of the fifty righteous should be lacking—will You destroy the whole city for lack of five? He said, If I find forty-five, I will not destroy it.

²⁹ And [Abraham] spoke to Him yet again, and said, Suppose [only] forty shall be found there. And He said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

³⁰ Then [Abraham] said to Him, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak [again]. Suppose [only] thirty shall be found there. And He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there.

³¹ And [Abraham] said, Behold now, I have taken upon myself to speak [again] to the Lord. Suppose [only] twenty shall be found there. And [the Lord] replied, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

³² And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again only this once. Suppose ten [righteous people] shall be found there. And [the Lord] said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

³³ And the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.