Beginning
Sarai and Hagar
16 Abram's wife, Sarai, had not given birth to any children. She had an Egyptian servant. The servant's name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has not let me have any children. Go and sleep with my servant. Then if she gives birth, her children will be my family.’ Abram agreed to do this.[a]
3 Abram had now been living in Canaan for ten years. Sarai gave her Egyptian servant, Hagar, to him. She became like another wife for Abram.
4 Abram had sex with Hagar and she became pregnant. When Hagar knew that she was pregnant, she no longer respected Sarai.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘It is because of you that Hagar is now insulting me. I gave her to you so that you could have sex with her. Now she is pregnant and she does not respect me. The Lord will decide who is right, you or me.’
6 Abram said to Sarai, ‘Hagar is your servant and you have authority over her. Do to her whatever you think is right.’ Then Sarai caused trouble for Hagar. So Hagar ran away from Sarai.
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar. She was by a spring of water in the desert. The spring was near the road to Shur. 8 The angel said, ‘Sarai's servant, Hagar, where have you come from? Where are you going?’ Hagar replied, ‘I am running away from Sarai. I am her servant.’
9 The angel of the Lord told Hagar, ‘Go back to Sarai. You are her servant and you must obey her.’
10 The angel also said, ‘I will make the number of your descendants become very many. They will be too many for people to count.’
11 The angel of the Lord said to Hagar,
‘Now you are pregnant and you will give birth to a son.
When you cried in pain, the Lord heard you,
so you must give your son the name “Ishmael”.[b]
12 Like a wild donkey, nobody will be able to rule him.
He will fight against everyone, and everyone will fight against him.
He will think that everyone is his enemy.
He will keep away from his brothers.’
13 When Hagar heard what the angel said, she said to herself, ‘I have seen the God who sees me!’ So she called the Lord ‘The God who sees me.’ 14 That is why they called the well in that place ‘Beer Lahai Roi’.[c] The well is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 After some time Hagar gave birth to a son. Abram was his father. Abram gave his son the name ‘Ishmael’. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
God changes Abram's name to Abraham
17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, ‘I am God Almighty. In all your life, obey me and do nothing wrong. 2 Then I will certainly keep my covenant with you. I will make your descendants grow in number.’[d]
3 Abram fell down so that his face touched the ground. God said to him, 4 ‘As for me, this is my covenant that I have made with you. You will become the ancestor of many nations of people. 5 Your name will not be Abram any more. Instead your name will be Abraham, because I will cause you to become the ancestor of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants. These will make many nations of people. Some of your descendants will become kings.
7 My covenant with you is very strong. I am making it with you and with your descendants. It will continue for generation after generation of your descendants, for all time. I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your descendants. 8 You are now living here in Canaan as a foreign person. But I will give all of this land to you and to your descendants. It will belong to them for ever. I will be their God.’
Circumcision
9 God continued to speak to Abraham. He said, ‘As for you, you must agree to obey me. You must obey the rules of my covenant. You, and all your descendants after you must obey it. 10 This is what you and all your descendants must do to obey my covenant: Every male person in your family must be circumcised. 11 Your circumcision will show that you have agreed to my covenant with you. 12 Every male child among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old. You must continue to do this for every generation. Do it for every male that lives with you, not just your own family. Circumcise servants that have been born in your house. Also circumcise foreign servants that you have bought with money. 13 You must circumcise all the male servants who work for you in your house. Circumcision will be a mark in your bodies which shows that you accept my covenant. It will continue for all time.
14 If any male person among you has not been circumcised, I will not accept him as one of my people. He must become separate from his people. He has not obeyed my covenant.’[e]
God changes Sarai's name to Sarah
15 Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife, do not call her Sarai any more. Instead, her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her. She will give birth to a son for you. Many nations of people will be her descendants. Some of them will become kings. That is how much I will bless her!’
17 Abraham fell down so that his face touched the ground. He laughed and he said to himself, ‘I am now 100 years old. That is too old to have a son. Sarah is 90 years old, so she could never give birth to a child. That is too old to have a child.’ 18 So Abraham said to God, ‘I would be happy if you would bless Ishmael as my son.’
19 God said to Abraham, ‘No, your wife Sarah will give birth to a son for you. You must give him the name “Isaac”.[f] I will make my covenant with him and with his descendants for all time. 20 I have heard what you want me to do for Ishmael. I will bless him. I will cause him to have many descendants. Among his descendants there will be 12 rulers. His descendants will become a great nation. 21 But I will make my covenant with Isaac, not with Ishmael. At about this time next year, Sarah will give birth to your son, Isaac.’
22 When God had finished speaking to Abraham, he went away.
23 On that same day, Abraham circumcised Ishmael and every male person in his house. He circumcised every male servant that was born in his house, as well as those that he had bought with money. He did this in the way that God had told him. 24 Abraham himself was circumcised when he was 99 years old. 25 His son, Ishmael, was 13 years old when he was circumcised. 26 Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27 As well as them, all the male people living in Abraham's house were circumcised. This included the male servants that had been born in his house and those that he had bought with money.
God promises a son to Abraham
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the special oak trees of Mamre. It was the hot time of day and Abraham was sitting by the door of his tent. 2 Abraham looked up and he saw three men. He ran in a hurry to meet them. He bent down to the ground to respect them.[g]
3 Abraham said, ‘Please sir, stop here and let me serve you. That would make me very happy. 4 Let us bring some water so that you can all wash your feet. Then you can rest under this tree. 5 Let me also bring some food for you to eat. Now that you have come to my home, you should rest and become strong again. Then you will be ready to continue with your journey.’ The men replied, ‘That is good. Please do what you have said.’
6 Abraham went quickly to the tent. He said to Sarah, ‘Be quick! Get plenty of good flour and make bread with it.’ 7 Then Abraham ran to his cows. He chose a very nice young cow. He gave it to his servant. The servant quickly prepared it for the men to eat. 8 Then Abraham also brought some cream and some milk, as well as the meat from the cow. He put all the food in front of the men. While they ate it, Abraham stood near them, under a tree.
9 Then the men asked Abraham, ‘Where is Sarah, your wife?’ Abraham replied, ‘She is there in the tent.’
10 Then one of the men said, ‘I will certainly return to you at about this time next year. At that time Sarah, your wife, will have a son!’
Sarah was listening to all this. She was at the door of the tent, near to where they were talking. 11 Abraham and Sarah were now very old. Sarah was past the age when she could give birth to a child. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself. She thought, ‘I have become old and weak. My husband is also old. I will never have a baby and be happy like that.’
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh like that? She said, “I am too old to have a child.” 14 But surely, nothing is too difficult for the Lord to do. At this time next year, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.’
15 Then Sarah was afraid. So she told a lie. She said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But the Lord said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’
God decides to punish the people in Sodom
16 Then Abraham's visitors started to leave. They looked down in the valley towards Sodom. Abraham was walking with them to say ‘goodbye’ to them. 17 Then the Lord said to himself, ‘I should tell Abraham what I have decided to do. 18 Abraham's descendants will become a great nation of people. They will be very powerful. Through him, I will bless all the nations of the earth.[h] 19 I have chosen him so that he will teach my message to his children and their families. He will teach them to do what is right and what is fair. Then I, the Lord, will do for Abraham everything that I have promised to him.’
20 So the Lord said to Abraham, ‘I have heard how bad the people in Sodom and Gomorrah are. Everybody says that their sins are very bad. 21 So I must go down there to see if it is really true. I will see if those people are as bad as everybody says they are. Then I will know what is true.’
22 The other two men then turned away and they went towards Sodom. But Abraham stayed there to talk with the Lord.
23 Then Abraham went near to the Lord and he asked, ‘Will you destroy the good people as well as the bad people? 24 There might be 50 people in the city who live in a good way. Will you still destroy the whole city? Or will you leave it there, because there are 50 good people in it? 25 Will you kill them all, the good people and the bad people? Surely you would not do anything like that! You would not punish good people in the same way as bad people. You are the great judge of everyone on the earth. You will surely do what is right!’
26 The Lord replied, ‘If I see that there are 50 good people in the city of Sodom, I will not destroy that place. Because of those 50 good people, I will leave the city there.’
27 Then Abraham spoke again. He said, ‘I have been brave enough to speak to the Lord. I know that I am nothing more than dust and ashes.[i] 28 But let me ask you this. What will you do if there are 45 good people in the city? Will you destroy the city, because there are only five fewer good people there?’ The Lord replied, ‘If I see that there are 45 good people in the city, I will not destroy it.’
29 Abraham spoke to God again. He said, ‘What will you do if only 40 good people are there?’ The Lord said, ‘Because of 40 good people, I will not destroy the city.’
30 Then Abraham said, ‘Please do not be angry, Lord. Let me speak again. What will you do if there are only 30 good people there?’ The Lord answered, ‘I will not destroy the city if I find 30 good people there.’
31 Abraham said, ‘I have been brave to speak to you, Lord. What will you do if only 20 good people are there?’ The Lord said, ‘Because of 20 good people, I will not destroy the city.’
32 After all that, Abraham said, ‘Please do not be angry, Lord. Let me speak just one more time. If there are only ten good people there, what will you do?’ The Lord replied, ‘Because of ten good people, I will not destroy the city.’[j]
33 The Lord had finished speaking with Abraham. So he continued on his journey. Abraham returned home.
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