Day 92 of 365

¹It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,

²that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).

³All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).

⁴Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

⁷They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;

⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

¹⁰Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.

¹¹They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.

¹²They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.

¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

¹⁵He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

¹⁷The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

¹⁸Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

¹⁹He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

²²Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

²³that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

²⁴I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

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.

¹It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, Most High;

²to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night,

³with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre.

⁴For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands.

⁵How great are your works, Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.

⁶A senseless man doesn't know, neither does a fool understand this:

⁷though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.

⁸But you, Lord, are on high forevermore.

⁹For, behold, your enemies, Lord, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹My eye has also seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³They are planted in the Lord's house. They will flourish in our God's courts.

¹⁴They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,

¹⁵to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²"Surely I am the most ignorant man, and do not have a man's understanding.

³I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know?

⁵"Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.

⁷"Two things I have asked of you; do not deny me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me;

⁹lest I be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰"Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn't bless their mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.

¹³There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.

¹⁵"The leach has two daughters: 'Give, give.' "There are three things that are never satisfied; four that do not say, 'Enough:'

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn't say, 'Enough.'

¹⁷"The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.

¹⁸"There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰"So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done nothing wrong.'

²¹"For three things the earth tremble, and under four, it can't bear up:

²²For a servant when he is king; a fool when he is filled with food;

²³for an unloved woman when she is married; and a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.

²⁴"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵the ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.

²⁶The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.

²⁷The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks.

²⁸You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

²⁹"There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going:

³⁰The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn't turn away for any;

³¹the greyhound, the male goat also; and the king against whom there is no rising up.

³²"If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth.

³³For as the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood; so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife."