Day 2 of 90

¹After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

²Abram said, "Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

³Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."

⁴Behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."

⁵The Lord brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."

⁶He believed in the Lord; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.

⁷He said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."

⁸He said, "Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?"

⁹He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

¹⁰He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds.

¹¹The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹²When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

¹³He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,

¹⁵but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

¹⁷It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

¹⁸In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

¹Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

²Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her." Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

³Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.

⁴He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

⁵Sarai said to Abram, "This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between me and you."

⁶But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes." Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

⁷The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

⁸He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai."

⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands."

¹⁰The angel of the Lord said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude."

¹¹The angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.

¹²He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers."

¹³She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?"

¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

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

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.

²I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

³Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,

⁴"As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations.

⁵Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.

⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you.

⁸I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God."

⁹God said to Abraham, "As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.

¹²He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.

¹³He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant."

¹⁵God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.

¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her."

¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?"

¹⁸Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"

¹⁹God said, "No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.

²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

²¹But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year."

²²When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

²³Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him.

²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised.

²⁷All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

¹The Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

³and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not go away from your servant.

⁴Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

⁶Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

⁷Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.

⁸He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹They said to him, "Where is Sarah, your wife? He said, "See, in the tent."

¹⁰Then he said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

¹²Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

¹³The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'

¹⁴Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

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

¹⁶The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷The Lord said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,

¹⁸seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

¹⁹For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the Lord may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

²⁰The Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,

²¹I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."

²²The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

²³Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

²⁶The Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

²⁷Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.

²⁸What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

²⁹He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

³⁰He said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

³¹He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

³²He said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

³³The Lord went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

¹The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,

²and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way." They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night."

³He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.

⁵They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them."

⁶Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him.

⁷He said, "Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

⁸See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof."

⁹They said, "Stand back!" They said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.

¹⁰But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

¹¹They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹²The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:

¹³for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it."

¹⁴Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.

¹⁵When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city."

¹⁶But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, the Lord being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.

¹⁷It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!"

¹⁸Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord.

¹⁹See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.

²⁰See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live."

²¹He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

²²Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

²⁴Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of the sky.

²⁵He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.

²⁶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

²⁸He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³⁰Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.

³¹The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.

³²Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed."

³³They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁴It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed."

³⁵They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He did not know when she lay down, nor when she got up.

³⁶Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father.

³⁷The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

³⁸The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

¹Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the Negev, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar.

²Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

³But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man's wife."

⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, "Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation?

⁵Did not he tell me, 'She is my sister?' She, even she herself, said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this."

⁶God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow you to touch her.

⁷Now therefore, restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you do not restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours."

⁸Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared.

⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!"

¹⁰Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you have done this thing?"

¹¹Abraham said, "Because I thought, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife's sake.'

¹²Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"

¹⁴Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him.

¹⁵Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you."

¹⁶To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated."

¹⁷Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.

¹⁸For the Lord had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

¹The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had spoken.

²Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

³Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

⁴Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

⁵Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.

⁶Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me."

⁷She said, "Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."

⁸The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this handmaid and her son! For the son of this handmaid will not be heir with my son, Isaac."

¹¹The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son.

¹²God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your handmaid. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For from Isaac will your seed be called.

¹³I will also make a nation of the son of the handmaid, because he is your seed."

¹⁴Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Do not let me see the death of the child." She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Do not be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

¹⁸Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation."

¹⁹God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink.

²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.

²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

²²It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do.

²³Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner."

²⁴Abraham said, "I will swear."

²⁵Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

²⁶Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing. Neither did you tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today."

²⁷Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant.

²⁸Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?"

³⁰He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well."

³¹Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore there.

³²So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

³⁴Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

¹It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."

²He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of."

³Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.

⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.

⁵Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you."

⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.

⁷Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

⁸Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together.

⁹They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.

¹⁰Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹The angel of the Lord called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."

¹²He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

¹³Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

¹⁴Abraham called the name of that place the Lord Will Provide. As it is said to this day, "On the Lord's mountain, it will be provided."

¹⁵The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,

¹⁶and said, "I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.

¹⁸In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.

²⁰It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

²¹Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

¹Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life.

²Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

³Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,

⁴"I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

⁵The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

⁶"Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead."

⁷Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

⁸He talked with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

⁹that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me among you for a possession of a burying-place."

¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹"No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

¹²Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.

¹³He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

¹⁵"My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead."

¹⁶Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard.

¹⁷So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded

¹⁸to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.

¹Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

²Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh.

³I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.

⁴But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

⁵The servant said to him, "What if the woman isn't willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?"

⁶Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not bring my son there again.

⁷The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, 'I will give this land to your seed.' He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again."

⁹The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰The servant took ten camels, of his master's camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master's with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

¹¹He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.

¹²He said, "O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, 'Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,' and she will say, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,'-let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

¹⁵It happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder.

¹⁶The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, neither had any man known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷The servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher."

¹⁸She said, "Drink, my lord." She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him drink.

¹⁹When she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will also draw for your camels, until they have done drinking."

²⁰She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

²¹The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²It happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,

²³and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?"

²⁴She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

²⁵She said moreover to him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."

²⁶The man bowed his head, and worshiped the Lord.

²⁷He said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master's relatives."

²⁸The young lady ran, and told her mother's house about these words.

²⁹Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring.

³⁰It happened, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," that he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

³¹He said, "Come in, you blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels."

³²The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told my message." He said, "Speak on."

³⁴He said, "I am Abraham's servant.

³⁵The Lord has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

³⁶Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him.

³⁷My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,

³⁸but you shall go to my father's house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'

³⁹I said to my master, 'What if the woman will not follow me?'

⁴⁰He said to me, 'The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father's house.

⁴¹Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they do not give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.'

⁴²I came this day to the spring, and said, 'The Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go-

⁴³behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes forth to draw, to whom I will say, "Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher to drink,"

⁴⁴and she will tell me, "Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,"-let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.'

⁴⁵Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'

⁴⁶She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.' So I drank, and she made the camels drink also.

⁴⁷I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.

⁴⁸I bowed my head, and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son.

⁴⁹Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered, "The thing proceeds from the Lord. We can't speak to you bad or good.

⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the Lord has spoken."

⁵²It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to the Lord.

⁵³The servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.

⁵⁴They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master."

⁵⁵Her brother and her mother said, "Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go."

⁵⁶He said to them, "Do not hinder me, seeing the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

⁵⁷They said, "We will call the young lady, and ask her."

⁵⁸They called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will go."

⁵⁹They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham's servant, and his men.

⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, "Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them."

⁶¹Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

⁶²Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the Negev.

⁶³Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming.

⁶⁴Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel.

⁶⁵She said to the servant, "Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." She took her veil, and covered herself.

⁶⁶The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

⁶⁷Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

¹Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.

²She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.

⁴The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac,

⁶but to the sons of Abraham's concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country.

⁷These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years.

⁸Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

⁹Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre,

¹⁰the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.

¹¹It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.

¹²Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham.

¹³These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations.

¹⁷These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people.

¹⁸They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.

¹⁹This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham became the father of Isaac.

²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife.

²¹Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. The Lord was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

²²The children struggled together within her. She said, "If it be so, why do I live?" She went to inquire of the Lord.

²³The Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.

²⁴When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

²⁵The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau.

²⁶After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

²⁸Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.

³⁰Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.

³¹Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright."

³²Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"

³³Jacob said, "Swear to me first." He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob.

³⁴Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

¹There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

²The Lord appeared to him, and said, "Do not go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about.

³Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

⁴I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed,

⁵because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

⁶Isaac lived in Gerar.

⁷The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, "the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at."

⁸It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife.

⁹Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her.'"

¹⁰Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!"

¹¹Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

¹²Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The Lord blessed him.

¹³The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great.

¹⁴He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.

¹⁵Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.

¹⁶Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we."

¹⁷Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

¹⁸Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

¹⁹Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

²⁰The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

²¹They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah.

²²He left that place, and dug another well. They did not argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

²³He went up from there to Beersheba.

²⁴The Lord appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

²⁵He built an altar there, and called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well.

²⁶Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army.

²⁷Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?"

²⁸They said, "We saw plainly that the Lord was with you. We said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you,

²⁹that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.' You are now the blessed of the Lord."

³⁰He made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

³¹They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³²It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."

³³He called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

³⁵They grieved Isaac's and Rebekah's spirits.

¹It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?" He said to him, "Here I am."

²He said, "See now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.

³Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison.

⁴Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die."

⁵Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

⁶Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,

⁷'Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before the Lord before my death.'

⁸Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.

⁹Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good kids of the goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves.

¹⁰You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

¹¹Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

¹²What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing."

¹³His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me."

¹⁴He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved.

¹⁵Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.

¹⁶She put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.

¹⁷She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸He came to his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

¹⁹Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."

²⁰Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because the Lord your God gave me success."

²¹Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

²²Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

²³He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau's hands. So he blessed him.

²⁴He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He said, "I am."

²⁵He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you." He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son."

²⁷He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed.

²⁸God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

²⁹Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you."

³⁰It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me."

³²Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

³³Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed."

³⁴When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father."

³⁵He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."

³⁶He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

³⁷Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?"

³⁸Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹Isaac his father answered him, "Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and of the dew of the sky from above.

⁴⁰By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck."

⁴¹Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."

⁴²The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.

⁴⁴Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away;

⁴⁵until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

⁴⁶Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?"

¹Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

²Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

³May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,

⁴and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham."

⁵Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah's brother, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,"

⁷and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram.

⁸Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac, his father.

⁹Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

¹⁰Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

¹¹He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.

¹²He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

¹³Behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.

¹⁴Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.

¹⁵Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you."

¹⁶Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."

¹⁷He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven."

¹⁸Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.

¹⁹He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

²⁰Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on,

²¹so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the Lord will be my God,

²²then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you."