Genesis 4:1-23:8

New American Standard Bible

Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[a]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now ^(A)Abel was ^(B)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³ So it came about ^[b]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ^4 (C)Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And ^(D)the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵ but ^(E)for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So ^(F)Cain became very angry and his face ^[c]was gloomy. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(G)Why are you angry? And why is your face ^[d]gloomy? ^7 (H)If you do well, ^[e]will your face not be ^[f]cheerful? ^(I)And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, ^(J)but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain ^[g]talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^(K)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(L)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? ^(M)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now ^(N)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ^12 (O)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(P)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴ Behold, You have ^(Q)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(R)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(S)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(T)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[h](U)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶ Then Cain left the presence ^(V)of the Lord, and ^[i]settled in the land of ^[j]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain ^[k]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took ^(W)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²² As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

^25 (Z)Adam ^[l]had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him ^[m]Seth, for, she said, “God ^[n]has appointed me another ^[o]child in place of Abel, ^(AA)because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth also ^(AB)a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began ^(AC)to call ^[p]upon the name of the Lord.

Descendants of Adam

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him ^(AD)in the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(AE)male and female, and He ^(AF)blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

⁶ Now Seth lived 105 years, and fathered Enosh. ⁷ Then Seth lived 807 years after he fathered Enosh, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸ So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

⁹ Now Enosh lived ninety years, and fathered Kenan. ¹⁰ Then Enosh lived 815 years after he fathered Kenan, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

¹² Now Kenan lived seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Then Kenan lived 840 years after he fathered Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

¹⁵ Now Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and fathered Jared. ¹⁶ Then Mahalalel lived 830 years after he fathered Jared, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

¹⁸ Now Jared lived 162 years, and fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

²¹ Now Enoch lived sixty-five years, and fathered Methuselah. ²² Then Enoch ^(AG)walked with God three hundred years after he fathered Methuselah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²³ So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ^24 (AH)Enoch walked with God; and he was ^[q]not, for God ^(AI)took him.

²⁵ Now Methuselah lived 187 years, and fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he fathered Lamech, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

²⁸ Now Lamech lived 182 years, and fathered a son. ²⁹ And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by ^(AJ)the ground which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ Then Lamech lived 595 years after he fathered Noah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

³² Now after Noah was ^(AK)five hundred years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Corruption of Mankind

6 Now it came about, when mankind began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were ^[r]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “^(AL)My Spirit will not ^[s]remain with man forever, ^[t](AM)because he is also flesh; ^[u]nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The ^[v](AN)Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that ^(AO)every intent of the thoughts of ^[w]their hearts was only evil continually. ⁶ So ^(AP)the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was ^(AQ)grieved ^[x]in His heart. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “^(AR)I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For ^(AS)I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But ^(AT)Noah ^(AU)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

⁹ These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a ^(AV)righteous man, ^[y](AW)blameless in his generation. Noah ^(AX)walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was ^(AY)corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was ^(AZ)filled with violence. ¹² And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for ^[z](BA)humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.

¹³ Then God said to Noah, “^(BB)The end of ^[aa]humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of ^[ab]people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make for yourself an ark of ^[ac]gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and ^[ad]cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be ^[ae]three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a ^[af]window for the ark, and finish it to a ^[ag]cubit from ^[ah]the top; and put the door of the ark on the side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ Now behold, ^(BC)I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish ^(BD)My covenant with you; and ^(BE)you shall enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ^19 (BF)And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ^20 (BG)Of the birds according to their kind, and of the animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ As for you, take for yourself some of every ^(BH)food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.” ^22 (BI)So Noah did these things; according to everything that God had commanded him, so he did.

The Flood

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be ^(BJ)righteous before Me in this generation. ² You shall take ^[ai]with you ^[aj]seven pairs of every ^(BK)clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female; ³ also of the birds of the sky, ^[ak]seven pairs, male and female, to keep their ^[al]offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after ^(BL)seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for ^(BM)forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe out from the face of the land ^(BN)every living thing that I have made.” ⁵ So ^(BO)Noah acted in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Now Noah was ^(BP)six hundred years old when the flood of water ^[am]came upon the earth. ⁷ Then ^(BQ)Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. ^8 (BR)Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that crawls on the ground, ⁹ they all went into the ark to Noah ^[an]by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ Now it came about after ^(BS)the seven days, that the waters of the flood ^[ao]came upon the earth. ¹¹ In the ^(BT)six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all ^(BU)the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the ^[ap]floodgates of the sky were opened. ^12 (BV)The rain ^[aq]fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On this very same day ^(BW)Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to ^[ar]their kind, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, ^[as]all sorts of birds. ¹⁵ So they went into the ark to Noah, ^(BX)by twos of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed the door behind him.

¹⁷ Then the flood ^[at]came upon the earth for ^(BY)forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. ¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark ^[au]floated on the ^[av]surface of the water. ¹⁹ And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains ^[aw]everywhere under the heavens were covered. ²⁰ The water prevailed ^[ax]fifteen cubits higher, ^(BZ)and the mountains were covered. ²¹ So ^(CA)all ^[ay]creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; ²² of all that was on the dry land, all ^(CB)in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. ²³ So He wiped out ^[az]every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from mankind to animals, to crawling things, and the birds of the sky, and they were wiped out from the earth; and only ^(CC)Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. ^24 (CD)The water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.

The Flood Subsides

8 But ^(CE)God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and ^(CF)God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. ² Also ^(CG)the fountains of the deep and the ^[ba]floodgates of the sky were closed, and ^(CH)the rain from the sky was restrained; ³ and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end ^(CI)of 150 days the water decreased. ⁴ Then in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, ^(CJ)the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the ^(CK)window of the ark which he had made; ⁷ and he sent out a raven, and it ^[bb]flew here and there until the water was dried up ^[bc]from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a ^[bd]dove, to see if the water was low on the ^[be]surface of the land; ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the ^[bf]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ And the dove came to him in ^[bg]the evening, and behold, in its ^[bh]beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. ¹² Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out ^(CL)the dove; but it did not return to him again.

¹³ Now it came about in the ^(CM)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up ^[bi]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the ^[bj]surface of the ground had dried up. ¹⁴ And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may ^[bk](CN)breed abundantly on the earth, and ^(CO)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸ So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹ Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out ^[bl]by their families from the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built ^(CP)an altar to the Lord, and took some of every kind of ^(CQ)clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered ^(CR)burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹ The Lord ^(CS)smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said ^[bm]to Himself, “I will never again ^(CT)curse the ground on account of man, for ^(CU)the ^[bn]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^(CV)and I will never again ^[bo]destroy every living thing, as I have done.

Covenant of the Rainbow

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “^(CY)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. ² The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you. ³ Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, ^(CZ)as I gave the green plant. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, ^(DA)its blood. ⁵ I certainly will require ^[bp](DB)your lifeblood; ^[bq](DC)from every animal I will require it. And ^[br]from every person, ^[bs]from every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹ “Now behold, ^(DG)I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your ^[bu]descendants after you; ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth. ¹¹ I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall ^(DH)never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, ^(DI)nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² God said, “This is ^(DJ)the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for ^[bv]all future generations; ¹³ I have set My ^(DK)rainbow in the cloud, and it shall ^[bw]serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, ¹⁵ and ^(DL)I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and ^(DM)never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the ^(DN)everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸ Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and ^(DO)Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and ^(DP)from these the whole earth was ^[bx]populated.

²⁰ Then Noah began ^[by]farming and planted a vineyard. ²¹ He drank some of the wine and ^(DQ)became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, ^(DR)saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³ But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were ^[bz]turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ So he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ Noah lived 350 years after the flood. ²⁹ So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Descendants of Noah

10 Now these are the records of the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.

^2 (DW)The sons of Japheth were ^(DX)Gomer, Magog, ^(DY)Madai, ^(DZ)Javan, Tubal, ^(EA)Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were ^(EB)Ashkenaz, ^[cd]Riphath, and ^(EC)Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, ^(ED)Tarshish, Kittim, and ^[ce]Dodanim. ⁵ From these the people of the coastlands of the nations ^[cf]were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

^6 (EE)The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were ^(EF)Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, ^(EG)Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were ^(EH)Sheba and ^(EI)Dedan. ⁸ Now Cush fathered Nimrod; he ^[cg]became a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was ^[ch](EJ)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of ^(EK)Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went ^(EL)to Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³ Mizraim fathered ^(EM)Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ^14 (EN)Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines), and Caphtorim.

¹⁵ Canaan fathered ^(EO)Sidon, his firstborn, and ^(EP)Heth, ^16 (EQ)the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, ¹⁷ the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, ¹⁸ the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. ^19 (ER)The territory of the Canaanite ^[ci]extended from Sidon ^[cj]going toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; and ^[ck]going toward ^(ES)Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

²¹ Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. ^22 (ET)The sons of Shem were ^(EU)Elam, Asshur, ^(EV)Arpachshad, ^(EW)Lud, and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were ^(EX)Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad fathered ^(EY)Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. ^25 (EZ)Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was ^[cl]Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ^28 [cm]Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all of these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ Now their ^[cn]settlement ^[co]extended from Mesha ^[cp]going toward Sephar, the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and ^(FA)out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11 Now all the earth ^[cq]used the same language and ^[cr]the same words. ² And it came about, as they journeyed ^[cs]east, that they found a plain in the land ^(FB)of Shinar and ^[ct]settled there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ^[cu]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used ^(FC)tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^(FD)will reach into heaven, and let’s make ^(FE)a name for ourselves; otherwise we ^(FF)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Now ^(FG)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the ^[cv]men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^[cw](FH)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ^[cx]impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^[cy](FI)let Us go down and there ^(FJ)confuse their ^[cz]language, so that they will not understand one another’s ^[da]speech.” ⁸ So the Lord ^(FK)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore it was named ^[db](FL)Babel, because there the Lord confused the ^[dc]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

^10 (FM)These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; ¹¹ and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; ¹³ and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; ¹⁵ and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; ¹⁷ and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; ¹⁹ and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; ²¹ and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; ²³ and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered ^(FN)Terah; ²⁵ and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and ^(FO)fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and ^(FP)Haran fathered ^(FQ)Lot. ²⁸ Haran died ^[dd]during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ^(FR)Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and ^(FS)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was ^(FT)Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was ^(FU)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah ^[de]and Iscah. ^30 (FV)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

³¹ Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed ^[df]together from ^(FW)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and ^[dg]settled there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(FX)the Lord said to Abram,

⁴ So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and ^(GD)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their ^(GE)possessions which they had accumulated, and ^(GF)the ^[dj]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they ^[dk]set out for the land of Canaan; ^(GG)so they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of ^(GH)Shechem, to the ^[dl]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And the Lord ^(GI)appeared to Abram and said, “^(GJ)To your ^[dm]descendants I will give this land.” So he built ^(GK)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with ^(GL)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(GM)called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward ^(GN)the ^[dn]Negev.

¹⁰ Now there was ^(GO)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was ^(GP)severe in the land. ¹¹ It came about, when he ^[do]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a ^[dp](GQ)beautiful woman; ^12 (GR)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Please say that you are ^(GS)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that ^[dq](GT)I may live on account of you.” ¹⁴ Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians ^[dr]saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and ^(GU)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(GV)he treated Abram well for her sake; and ^[ds](GW)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(GX)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “^(GY)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, ^[dt]here is your wife, take her and go!” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they ^[du]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Abram and Lot

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to ^(GZ)the ^[dv]Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.

² Now Abram was ^(HA)very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. ³ And he went ^[dw]on his journeys from the ^[dx]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, ^(HB)between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the ^(HC)altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now ^(HD)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ And ^(HE)the land could not ^[dy]support both of them ^[dz]while living together, ^(HF)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. ^7 (HG)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now ^(HH)the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

^8 (HI)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are relatives! ⁹ Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot raised his eyes and saw all the ^[ea]vicinity of the ^(HJ)Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord ^(HK)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like ^(HL)the garden of the Lord, ^(HM)like the land of Egypt ^[eb]going toward ^(HN)Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the ^[ec]vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other. ¹² Abram ^[ed]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot ^[ee]settled in ^(HO)the cities of the ^[ef]vicinity of the Jordan, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now ^(HP)the men of Sodom were ^[eg]exceedingly wicked ^(HQ)sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “^(HR)Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, ^(HS)northward and southward, and eastward and westward; ^15 (HT)for all the land which you see ^(HU)I will give to you and to your ^[eh]descendants forever. ¹⁶ I will make your ^[ei]descendants ^(HV)as plentiful as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your ^[ej]descendants could also be counted. ¹⁷ Arise, ^(HW)walk about in the land through its length and width; for ^(HX)I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the ^[ek](HY)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built ^(HZ)an altar to the Lord.

War of the Kings

14 And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of ^(IA)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ^(IB)Elam, and Tidal king of ^[el]Goiim, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of ^(IC)Admah, and Shemeber king of ^(ID)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, ^(IE)Zoar). ³ All these kings ^[em]came as allies to ^(IF)the Valley of Siddim (that is, ^(IG)the Salt Sea). ⁴ For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and ^[en]defeated the ^(IH)Rephaim in ^(II)Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in ^[eo](IJ)Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶ and the ^(IK)Horites on their Mount Seir, as far as ^(IL)El-paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, ^(IM)Kadesh), and ^[ep]conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in ^(IN)Hazazon-tamar. ⁸ And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they lined up for battle against them in ^(IO)the Valley of Siddim, ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of ^[eq]Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and ^(IP)the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell ^[er]into them. But those who survived fled to the ^(IQ)hill country. ¹¹ Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. ¹² They also took Lot, ^(IR)Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, ^(IS)for he was living in Sodom.

¹³ Then ^[es]a survivor came and told Abram the ^(IT)Hebrew. Now he was residing by the ^[et](IU)oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and they were ^[eu](IV)allies with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that ^(IW)his relative had been taken captive, he ^[ev]led out his trained men, ^(IX)born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as ^(IY)Dan. ¹⁵ Then ^(IZ)he divided ^[ew]his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and ^[ex]defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is ^[ey]north of ^(JA)Damascus. ¹⁶ He ^(JB)brought back all the possessions, and also brought back ^(JC)his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the other people.

God’s Promise to Abram

¹⁷ Then after his return from the ^[ez]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, ^(JD)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, ^(JE)the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ And ^(JF)Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out ^(JG)bread and wine; now he was a ^(JH)priest of ^[fa]God Most High. ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said,

And ^(JJ)he gave him a tenth of everything. ²¹ Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the ^[fe]people to me and take the possessions for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have ^[ff]sworn to the Lord ^[fg](JK)God Most High, ^[fh](JL)Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³ that ^(JM)I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you do not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ^24 [fi]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, ^(JN)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”

Abram Promised a Son

15 After these things ^(JO)the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

² But Abram said, “Lord ^[fk]God, what will You give me, since I ^[fl]am childless, and the ^[fm]heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram also said, “^[fn]Since You have given me no ^[fo]son, ^[fp]one who has been ^(JS)born in my house is my heir.” ⁴ Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; ^(JT)but one who will come from your own ^[fq]body shall be your heir.” ⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and ^(JU)count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “^(JV)So shall your ^[fr]descendants be.” ^6 (JW)Then he believed in the Lord; and He ^[fs]credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(JX)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(JY)give you this land to ^[ft]possess it.” ⁸ But he said, “Lord ^[fu]God, ^(JZ)how may I know that I will ^[fv]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[fw]Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[fx]brought all these to Him and ^(KA)cut them ^[fy]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(KB)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(KC)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[fz]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(KD)your ^[ga]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[gb]where ^(KE)they will be enslaved and oppressed for ^(KF)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(KG)with ^[gc]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(KH)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(KI)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(KJ)the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which ^(KK)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

^19 (KN)the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, ²⁰ the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.”

Sarai and Hagar

16 Now ^(KO)Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had ^(KP)an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. ^(KQ)Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will ^[ge]obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ And so after Abram had lived ^(KR)ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. ⁴ Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. ⁵ So Sarai said to Abram, “^(KS)May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your ^[gf]arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her ^[gg]sight. ^(KT)May the Lord judge between ^[gh]you and me.” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your ^[gi]power; do to her what is good in your ^[gj]sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ^(KU)she fled from her presence.

⁷ Now ^(KV)the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ^(KW)Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, ^(KX)from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ So the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit ^[gk]to her authority.” ¹⁰ The ^(KY)angel of the Lord also said to her, “^(KZ)I will greatly multiply your ^[gl]descendants so that ^[gm]they will be too many to count.” ¹¹ The angel of the Lord said to her further,

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “^[gp]You are ^[gq]a God who sees me”; for she said, “^(LD)Have I even seen Him here and lived after ^[gr]He saw me?” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called ^[gs]Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ^(LE)Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was ^(LF)eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to ^[gt]him.

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(LG)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(LL)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(LP)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[gz]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(LQ)everlasting covenant, ^(LR)to be God to you and ^(LS)to your ^[ha]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(LT)I will give to you and to your ^[hb]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(LU)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(LV)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[hc]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (LW)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[hd]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(LX)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(LY)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[he]descendants. ¹³ A slave who is born in your house or ^(LZ)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(MA)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name ^[hf]Sarai, but ^[hg]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(MB)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(MC)kings of peoples will ^[hh]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(MD)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(ME)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you ^(MF)a son, and you shall name him ^[hi]Isaac; and ^(MG)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[hj]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(MH)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(MI)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(MJ)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(MK)Isaac, whom ^(ML)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(MM)God went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(MN)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on this very same day, ^(MO)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(MP)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(MQ)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. ²⁷ And all the men of his household, those who were ^(MR)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(MS)the Lord appeared to ^[hk]Abraham by the ^[hl](MT)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three ^(MU)men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, “^[hm]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[hn]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(MV)wash ^[ho]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[hp](MW)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[hq]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[hr]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[hs]Quickly, prepare three ^[ht]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[hu]choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree ^[hv]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(MX)I will certainly return to you ^[hw]at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(MY)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(MZ)past ^[hx]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[hy]to herself, saying, “^(NA)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(NB)lord being old also?” ¹³ But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’ ^14 (NC)Is anything too ^[hz]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(ND)appointed time I will return to you, ^[ia]at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Then ^(NE)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ^17 (NF)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(NG)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[ib]mighty nation, and in him ^(NH)all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have ^[ic](NI)chosen him, so that he may ^(NJ)command his children and his household after him to ^(NK)keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham ^(NL)what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “^(NM)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will ^(NN)go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

Abraham Appeals for Sodom

²² Then ^(NO)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(NP)the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached and said, “^(NQ)Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not ^[id]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[ie]such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not ^(NR)the Judge of all the earth ^[if]deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “^(NS)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will ^[ig]spare the entire place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ^[ih]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only ^(NT)dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have ^[ii]ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” ³² Then he said, “^(NU)Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham ^(NV)the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

The Doom of Sodom

19 Now the ^(NW)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When ^(NX)Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and ^[ij]bowed down with his face to the ground. ² And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” ³ Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; ^(NY)and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they lay down, ^(NZ)the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people ^[ik]from every quarter; ⁵ and they called to Lot and said to him, “^(OA)Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may ^[il]have relations with them.” ⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. ⁸ Now look, ^(OB)I have two daughters who have not ^[im]had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them ^[in]whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the ^[io]shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in ^[ip]as a foreigner, and already ^(OC)he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against ^[iq]Lot and moved forward to break the door. ¹⁰ But ^(OD)the men reached out their ^[ir]hands and brought Lot into the house ^[is]with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then ^(OE)they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³ for we are about to destroy this place, because ^(OF)their outcry has become so great before the Lord that ^(OG)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who ^[it]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, ^(OH)get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” ^(OI)But he appeared to his sons-in-law ^[iu]to be joking.

¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the ^[iv]punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men ^(OJ)grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the ^[iw]hands of his two daughters, because ^(OK)the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, ^[ix]one said, “^(OL)Escape for your life! ^(OM)Do not look behind you, and do not stay ^[iy]anywhere in the ^(ON)surrounding area; escape to ^(OO)the ^[iz]mountains, or you will be swept away.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! ¹⁹ Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the ^[ja]mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; ²⁰ now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) ^[jb]so that my life may be saved.” ²¹ And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this ^[jc]request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named ^[jd](OP)Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord ^(OQ)rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and ^(OR)He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But ^[je]Lot’s wife, from behind him, ^(OS)looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to ^(OT)the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and ^[jf]behold, he saw ^(OU)the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a ^[jg]furnace.

²⁹ So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that ^(OV)God remembered Abraham, and ^(OW)sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰ Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and ^(OX)stayed in the ^[jh]mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man ^[ji]on earth to ^[jj](OY)have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, ^(OZ)let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep ^[jk]our family alive through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep ^[jl]our family alive through our father.” ³⁵ So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁶ And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him ^(PA)Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of ^[jm]the sons of ^(PB)Ammon to this day.

Abraham’s Treachery

20 Now Abraham journeyed from ^(PC)there toward the land of ^(PD)the ^[jn]Negev, and ^[jo]settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived for a time in ^(PE)Gerar. ² And Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “^(PF)She is my sister.” So ^(PG)Abimelech king of Gerar sent men and took Sarah. ^3 (PH)But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, ^(PI)you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[jp]married.” ⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(PJ)will You kill a nation, even though ^[jq]blameless? ⁵ Did he himself not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she ^(PK)herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In ^(PL)the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my ^[jr]hands I have done this.” ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also ^[js](PM)kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now then, return the man’s wife, for ^(PN)he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ^[jt]presence; and the people were greatly frightened. ^9 (PO)Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And ^[ju]how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom ^(PP)a great sin? You have done to me ^[jv]things that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you ^[jw]encountered, that you have done this thing?” ¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no ^(PQ)fear of God in this place, and ^(PR)they will kill me because of my wife. ¹² Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife; ¹³ and it came about, when ^(PS)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is ^[jx]the kindness which you will show to me: ^[jy]everywhere we go, ^(PT)say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ^14 (PU)Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “^(PV)Behold, my land is before you; ^[jz]settle wherever ^[ka]you please.” ¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your ^(PW)brother a thousand pieces of silver. ^[kb]It is ^[kc]your vindication before all who are with you, and before everyone you are cleared.” ¹⁷ Then ^(PX)Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, so that they gave birth to children. ^18 (PY)For the Lord had completely closed all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Isaac Is Born

21 ^(PZ)Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had ^[kd]promised. ^2 (QA)So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at ^(QB)the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham named his son who was born to him, the son whom Sarah bore to him, ^(QC)Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was ^(QD)eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was ^(QE)a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has made ^(QF)laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh ^[ke]with me.” ⁷ And she said, “^(QG)Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”

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

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹ Now Sarah saw ^(QH)the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(QI)mocking Isaac. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “^(QJ)Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son ^[kf]Isaac!” ^11 (QK)The matter ^[kg]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “^[kh]Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for ^(QL)through Isaac ^[ki]your descendants shall be named. ¹³ And of ^(QM)the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your ^[kj]descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a ^[kk]skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was used up, she ^[kl]left the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not ^[km]see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and ^(QN)raised her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God ^(QO)heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “^[kn]What is the matter with you, Hagar? ^(QP)Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by ^[ko]the hand, ^(QQ)for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹ Then God ^(QR)opened her eyes, and she saw ^(QS)a well of water; and she went and filled the ^[kp]skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ And ^(QT)God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ^21 (QU)He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

²² Now it came about at that time that ^(QV)Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “^(QW)God is with you in all that you do; ²³ so now, ^(QX)swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided.” ²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But Abraham ^[kq]complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech ^(QY)had seized. ²⁶ And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it ^[kr]until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ^(QZ)the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” ³⁰ He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a ^(RA)witness for me, that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place ^[ks](RB)Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there ^(RC)he called on the name of the Lord, the ^(RD)Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham resided ^(RE)in the land of the Philistines for many days.

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now it came about after these things, that ^(RF)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “^(RG)Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² Then He said, “Take now ^(RH)your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of ^(RI)Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(RJ)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” ³ So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” ⁶ And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and ^(RK)laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^(RL)lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will ^[kt]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ Then they came to ^(RM)the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built ^(RN)the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and ^(RO)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to ^[ku]slaughter his son. ¹¹ But ^(RP)the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now ^(RQ)I know that you ^[kv]fear God, since you have not withheld ^(RR)your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place ^[kw]The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord ^(RS)it will ^[kx]be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “^(RT)By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly ^(RU)multiply your ^[ky]seed as the stars of the heavens and as ^(RV)the sand, which is on the seashore; and ^(RW)your ^[kz]seed shall possess the gate of ^[la]their enemies. ¹⁸ And ^(RX)in your ^[lb]seed all the nations of the earth shall ^[lc]be blessed, because you have ^(RY)obeyed My voice.” ^19 (RZ)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

²⁰ Now it came about after these things, that Abraham was told, saying, “Behold, ^(SA)Milcah ^[ld]also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel”— ²³ and it was Bethuel who fathered ^(SB)Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, ^[le]also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Death and Burial of Sarah

23 Now ^[lf]Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² Sarah died in ^(SC)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham ^[lg]came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the ^(SD)sons of Heth, saying, ⁴ “I am ^(SE)a stranger and a foreign resident among you; ^(SF)give me ^[lh]a ^(SG)burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” ⁵ The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord: you are a ^[li](SH)mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.” ⁷ So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If ^[lj]you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with ^(SI)Ephron the son of Zohar for me,