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The 17th Chapter
When Abram was
ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to him saying: I am the
almighty God: walk before me and be uncorrupt. And I will make my
bond between thee and me, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And
Abram fell on his face. And God talked moreover with him saying: I
am, behold my testament is with thee, that thou shalt be a father of
many nations. Therefore, shalt thou no more be called Abram, but thy
name shall be Abraham: for a father of many nations have I made
thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly, and will make nations of
thee: yea and kings shall spring out of thee. Moreover I will make
my bond between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their times
to be an everlasting testament, so that I will be God unto thee and
to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger: even all the land
of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and will be their God.
And God said unto Abraham: See thou keep my testament, both
thou and thy seed after thee in their times: This is my testament
which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee, that
ye circumcise all your men children. Ye shall circumcise the
foreskin of your flesh, and it shall be a token of the bond betwixt
me and you. And every manchild when it is eight days old, shall be
circumcised among you in your generations, and all servants also
born at home or bought with money though they be strangers and not
of thy seed. The servant born in thy house, and he also that is
bought with money, must needs be circumcised, that my testament may
be in your flesh, for an everlasting bond. If there be any
uncircumcised manchild, that hath not the foreskin of his flesh cut
off, his soul shall perish from his people: because he hath broken
my testament. And God said unto Abraham. Sarai thy wife shall no
more be called Sarai: but Sara shall her name be. For I will bless
her and give thee a son of her and will bless her: so that people,
yea and kings of people shall spring of her. And Abraham fell upon
his face and laughed, and said in his heart: shall a child be born
unto him that is an hundred years old, and shall Sara that is ninety
years old, bear: And Abraham said unto God. O that Ismael might live
in thy sight.
Then said God: nay, Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son in
deed and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will make my bond
with him, that it shall be an everlasting bond unto his seed after
him. And as concerning Ismael also, I have heard thy request: lo, I
will bless him and increase him, and multiply him exceedingly.
Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of
him. But my bond will I make with Isaac, which Sara shall bear unto
thee: even this time twelve month.
And God left off talking with him, and departed up from
Abraham. And Abraham took Ismael his son and all the servants born
in his house and all that was bought with money as many as were men
children among the men of Abrahams house, and circumcised the
foreskin of their flesh, even the selfsame day, as God had said unto
him. Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he cut off the
foreskin of his flesh. And Ismael his son was thirteen years old,
when the foreskin of his flesh was circumcised. The self same day
was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son. And all the men in his
house, whether they were born in his house or bought with money
(though they were strangers) were circumcised with him.
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The 18th Chapter
And the Lord appeared unto him in the
oak grove of Mamre as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the
day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked: and lo, three men stood
not far from him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the
tent door, and fell to the ground and said: Lord if I have found
favour in thy sight: go not by thy servant. Let a little water be
fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And
I will fetch a morsel of bread, to comfort your hearts withal. And
then go your ways, for even therefore are ye come to your servant.
And they answered: Do even so as thou hast said. And Abraham went a
pace into his tent unto Sara and said: make ready at once three
pecks of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes. And Abraham ran unto
his beasts and fetched a calf that was tender and good, and gave it
unto a young man which made it ready at once. And he took butter and
milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them, and
stood himself by them under the tree: and they ate.
And they said unto him: Where is Sara thy wife? And he said:
in the tent. And he said: I will come again unto thee as soon as the
fruit can live. And lo: Sara thy wife shall have a son. That heard
Sara, out of the tent door which was behind his back. Abraham and
Sara were both old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be
with Sara after the manner as it is with wives. And Sara laughed in
her self saying: Now I am waxed old, shall I give my self to lust,
and my lord old also? Then said the Lord unto Abraham: wherefore
doth Sara laugh saying: shall I of a surety bear a child, now when I
am old? is the thing too hard for the Lord to do? In the time
appointed will I return unto thee, as soon as the fruit can have
life, And Sara shall have a son. Then Sara denied it saying: I
laughed not, for she was afraid. But he said: yes thou laughtest.
Then the men stood up from there and looked toward Sodom. And
Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said:
Can I hide from Abraham that thing which I am about to do, seeing
that Abraham shall be a great and a mighty people, and all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him that he
will command his children and his household after him, that they
keep the way of the Lord, to do after right and conscience, that the
Lord may bring upon Abraham that he hath promised him.
And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorra is great, and
their sin is exceeding grievous. I will go down and see whether they
have done altogether according to that cry which is come unto me or
not, that I may know. And the men departed there and went to
Sodomward. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord, and drew near and
said. Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? If there be
fifty righteous within the city, wilt thou destroy it and not spare
the place for the sake of fifty righteous that are therein? That be
far from thee, that thou shouldest do after this manner, to slay the
righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the
wicked: that be far from thee. Should not the judge of all the world
do according to right? And the Lord said: If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, I will spare all the place for their
sakes.
And Abraham answered and said: behold I have taken upon me to
speak unto the Lord, and yet am but dust and ashes. What though
there lack five of fifty righteous, wilt thou destroy all the city
for lack of five? And he said: If I find there forty and five I will
not destroy them. And he spake unto him yet again and said: what if
there be forty found there. And he said: I will not do it for fortys
sake. And he said: O let not my Lord be angry, that I speak. What if
there be found thirty there? And he said: I will not do it, if I
find thirty there. And he said: Oh, see, I have begun to speak unto
my Lord, what if there be twenty found there? And he said: I will
not destroy them for twentys sake. And he said: O let not my Lord be
angry, that I speak yet, but even once more only. What if ten be
found there? And he said: I will not destroy them for tens sake. And
the Lord went his way as soon as he had left communing with Abraham.
And Abraham returned unto his place.
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The 19th Chapter
And there came
two angels to Sodom at even. And Lot sat at the gate of the city.
And Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself to
the ground with his face. And he said: See lords, turn in I pray you
in to your servants house and tarry all night and wash your feet,
and rise up early and go on your ways. And they said: nay, but we
will bide in the streets all night. And he compelled them
exceedingly. And they turned in unto him and entered into his house,
and he made them a feast and did bake sweet cakes, and they ate. But
before they went to rest, the men of the city of Sodom compassed the
house round about both old and young, all the people from all
quarters. And they called unto Lot and said unto him: where are the
men which came into thy house to night? bring them out unto us that
we may do our lust with them.
And Lot went out at doors unto them and shut the door after
him and said: nay for Gods sake brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold
I have two daughters which have known no man, them will I bring out
unto you: do with them as it seemeth you good: Only unto these men
do nothing, for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And
they said: come hither. And they said: camest thou not in to
sojourn, and wilt thou be now a judge? we will surely deal worse
with thee than with them.
And as they pressed sore upon Lot and began to break up the
door, the men put forth their hands and pulled Lot into the house to
them and shut to the door. And the men that were at the door of the
house, they smote with blindness both small and great: so that they
could not find the door. And the men said moreover unto Lot: If thou
have yet here any son in law or sons or daughters or whatsoever thou
hast in the city, bring it out of this place: for we must destroy
this place, because the cry of them is great before the Lord.
Wherefore he hath sent us to destroy it.
And Lot went out and spake unto his sons in law which should
have married his daughters, and said: stand up and get you out of
this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. But he seemed as
though he had mocked, unto his sons in law. And as the morning arose
the angels caused Lot to speed him saying. Stand up, take thy wife
and thy two daughters and that, that is at hand, lest thou perish in
the sin of the city. And as he prolonged the time, the men caught
both him, his wife and his two daughters by the hands, because the
Lord was merciful unto him, and they brought him forth and set him
without the city. When they had brought them out, they said: Save
thy life and look not behind thee neither tarry thou in any place of
the country, but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou perish.
Then said Lot unto them: O nay my Lord: behold, inasmuch as thy
servant hath found grace in thy sight, now make thy mercy great,
which thou showest unto me in saving my life. For I cannot save
myself in the mountains, lest some misfortune fall upon me and I
die. Behold, here is a city by, to flee unto, and it is a little
one, let me save myself therein: is it not a little one, that my
soul may live? And he said to him: see I have received thy request
as concerning this thing, that I will not overthrow this city for
the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, and save thyself there, for
I can do nothing till thou be come in thither. And therefore the
name of the city is called Zoar. And the sun was upon the earth when
Lot was entered into Zoar.
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorra, brimstone and
fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew those cities and all
the region, and all that dwelled in the cities, and that, that grew
upon the earth. And Lots wife looked behind her, and was turned in
to a pillar of salt.
Abraham rose up early and got him to the place where he stood
before the Lord, and looked toward Sodom and Gomorra and toward all
the land of that country. And as he looked: behold, the smoke of the
country arose as it had been the smoke of a furnace. But yet when
God destroyed the cities of the region, he thought upon Abraham: and
sent Lot out from the danger of the overthrowing, when he overthrew
the cities where Lot dwelled.
And Lot departed out of Zoar and dwelled in the mountains and
his two daughters with him for he feared to tarry in Zoar: he
dwelled therefore in a cave, both he and his two daughters also.
Then said the elder unto the younger: our father is old, and there
are no more men in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of
all the world. Come therefore, let us give our father wine to drink,
and let us lie with him that we may save seed of our father. And
they gave their father wine to drink that same night. And the elder
daughter went and lay with her father. And he perceived it not,
neither when she lay down, neither when she rose up.
And on the morrow the elder said unto the younger: behold,
yesternight lay I with my father. Let us give him wine to drink this
night also, and go thou and lie with him, and let us save seed of
our father. And they gave their father wine to drink that night
also. And the younger arose and lay with him. And he perceived it
not: neither when she lay down, neither when she rose up. Thus were
both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the elder
bare a son and called him Moab, which is the father of the Moabites
unto this day. And the younger bare a son and called him Ben Ammi,
which is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
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The 20th Chapter
And Abraham departed there
toward the south country and dwelled between Cades and Sur and
sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sara his wife, that she was
his sister. Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent and fetched Sara away.
And God came to Abimelech by night in a dream and said to him:
See, thou art but a dead man for the womans sake which thou hast
taken away, for she is a man s wife. But Abimelech had not yet come
nigh her, and therefore said: Lord wilt thou slay righteous people?
said not he unto me, that she was his sister? yea and said not she
herself that he was her brother? with a pure heart and innocent
hands have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream. I know it
well that thou didest it in pureness of thy heart. And therefore I
kept thee that thou shouldest not sin against me, neither *suffered
I thee to come nigh her. Now therefore deliver the man his wife
again, for he is a prophet. And let him pray for thee that thou
mayst live. But and if thou deliver her not again, be sure that thou
shalt die the death, with all that thou hast.
Then Abimelech rose up be times in the morning and called all
his servants, and told all these things in their ears, and the men
were sore afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him:
What hast thou done unto us, and what have I offended thee, that
thou shouldest bring on me and on my kingdom so great a sin? thou
hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech
said moreover unto Abraham: What sawest thou that moved thee to do
this thing?
And Abraham answered. I thought that peradventure the fear of
God was not in this place, and that they should slay me for my wifes
sake: yet in very deed she is my sister, the daughter of my father,
but not of my mother: and became my wife. And after God caused me to
wander out of my fathers house, I said unto her: This kindness shalt
thou shew unto me in all places where we come, that thou say of me,
how that I am thy brother.
Then took Abimelech sheep and oxen, menservants and
womenservants and gave them unto Abraham, and delivered him Sara his
wife again. And Abimelech said: behold the land lieth before thee,
dwell where it pleaseth thee best. And unto Sara he said: See I have
given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, behold this thing
shall be a covering to thine eyes unto all that are with thee and
unto all men and an excuse.
And so Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech and
his wife and his maidens, so that they bare. For the Lord had closed
too, all the matrices of the house of Abimelech, because of Sara
Abrahams wife.
*suffered (allowed)
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The 21st Chapter
The
Lord visited Sara as he had said and did unto her according as he
had promised. And Sara was with child and bare Abraham a son in his
old age even the same season which the Lord had appointed. And
Abraham called his sons name that was born unto him which Sara bare
him Isaac and Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight
days old, as God commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years
old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sara said: God hath
made me a laughing stock: for all that hear, will laugh at me. She
said also: who would have said unto Abraham, that Sara should have
given children suck, or that I should have borne him a son in his
old age: The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great
feast, the same day that Isaac was weaned. Sara saw the son of Hagar
the Egyptian which she had borne unto Abraham, a mocking. Then she
said unto Abraham: put away this bondmaid and her son: for the son
of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac: But the word
seemed very grievous in Abrahams sight, because of his son. Then the
Lord said unto Abraham: let it not be grievous unto thee, because of
the lad and of thy bondmaid: But in all that Sara hath said unto
thee, hear her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Moreover of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because
he is thy seed.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a
bottle with water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her
shoulders with the lad also, and sent her away. And she departed and
wandered up and down in the wilderness of Berseba. When the water
was spent that was in the bottle, she cast the lad under a bush and
went and sat her out of sight a great way, as it were a bowshot off:
For she said: I will not see the lad die. And she sat down out of
sight, and lifted up her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the child. And the angel of God
called Hagar out of heaven and said unto her: What aileth thee
Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child where he
lieth. Arise and lift up the lad, and take him in thy hand, for I
will make of him a great people. And God opened her eyes and she saw
a well of water. And she went and filled the bottle with water, and
gave the boy drink. And God was with the lad, and he grew and
dwelled in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelled in
the wilderness of Pharan. And his mother got him a wife out of the
land of Egypt.
And it chanced the same season, that Abimelech and Phicol his
chief captain spake unto Abraham saying: God is with thee in all
that thou doest. Now therefore swear unto me even here by God, that
thou wilt not hurt me nor my children, nor my children=s children.
But that thou shalt deal with me and the country where thou art a
stranger, according unto the kindness that I have shewed thee. Then
said Abraham: I will swear.
And Abraham rebuked Abimelech for a well of water, which
Abimelechs servants had taken away. And Abimelech answered I know
not who did it: Also thou toldest me not, neither heard I of it, but
this day. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto
Abimelech. And they made both of them a bond together. And Abraham
set seven lambs by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham: what
mean these seven lambs which thou hast set by themselves. And he
answered: seven lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a
witness unto me, that I have digged this well: Wherefore the place
is called Berseba, because they sware both of them. Thus made they a
bond together at Berseba. Then Abimelech and Phicol his chief
Captain rose up and turned again unto the land of the Philistines.
And Abraham planted a wood in Berseba, and called there, on the name
of the Lord, the everlasting God: and dwelt in the Philistine land a
long season.
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The 22nd Chapter
After these deeds, God did
prove Abraham and said unto him: Abraham. And he answered: here am
I. And he said: take thy only son Isaac whom thou lovest, and get
thee unto the land of Moria, and sacrifice him there for a sacrifice
upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee. Then Abraham rose
up early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took two of his *meiny
with him, and Isaac his son: and clove wood for the sacrifice, and
rose up and got him to the place which God had appointed him.
The third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place
afar off, and said unto his young men: bide here with the ass. I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again unto you. And
Abraham took the wood of the sacrifice and laid it upon Isaac his
son, and took fire in his hand and a knife. And they went both of
them together.
Then spake Isaac unto Abraham his father and said: My father?
And he answered here am I my son. And he said: See here is fire and
wood, but where is the sheep for sacrifice? And Abraham said: my
son, God will provide him a sheep for sacrifice. So went they both
together.
And when they came unto the place which God showed him,
Abraham made an altar there and dressed the wood, and bound Isaac
his son and laid him on the altar, above upon the wood. And Abraham
stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to have killed his son.
Then the angel of the Lord called unto him from heaven saying:
Abraham, Abraham? And he answered: here am I. And he said: lay not
thy hands upon the child, neither do anything at all unto him, for
now I know that thou fearest God, in that thou hast not kept thine
only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked about:
and behold, there was a ram caught by the horns in a thicket. And he
went and took the ram and offered him up for a sacrifice in the
stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord
will see: wherefore it is a common saying this day: in the mount
will the Lord be seen.
And the angel of the Lord cried unto Abraham from heaven the
second time saying: by myself have I sworn (saith the Lord) because
thou hast done this thing and hast not spared thy only son, that I
will bless thee and multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as
the sand upon the sea side. And thy seed shall possess the gates of
his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. So turned Abraham again
unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Berseba.
And Abraham dwelt at Berseba. And it chanced after these things,
that one told Abraham saying: Behold, Milcha she hath also born
children unto thy brother Nachor: Hus his eldest son and Bus his
brother, and Kemuel the father of the Sirians, and Cesed, and Haso,
and Pildas, and Jedlaph, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebecca.
These eight did Milcha bear to Nachor Abrahams brother. And his
concubine called Rheuma she bare also Tebah, Gaham, Thaas and
Maacha.
*meiny (many / OE mein; like minded)
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The 23rd Chapter
Sara was an hundred and twenty
seven years old (for so long lived she) and then died in a head city
called Hebron in the land of Canaan. Then Abraham came to mourn
Sara, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from the corpse, and
talked with the sons of Heth saying: I am a stranger and a foreigner
among you, give me a possession to bury in with you, that I may bury
my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham
saying unto him: Hear us Lord, thou art a prince of God among us. In
the chiefest of our sepulchers bury thy dead: None of us shall
forbid thee his sepulcher, that thou shouldest not bury thy dead
therein. Abraham stood up, and bowed himself before the people of
the land the children of Heth. And he communed with them saying: If
it be your minds that I shall bury my dead out of my sight, hear me
and speak for me to Ephron the son of Zoar: and let him give me the
double cave which he hath in the end of his field, for as much money
as it is worth, let him give it me in the presence of you, for a
possession to bury in. For Ephron dwelled among the children of Heth.
Then Ephron the Hethite answered Abraham in the audience of
the children of Heth and of all that went in at the gates of his
city, saying: Not so, my lord, but hear me: The field give I thee,
and the cave that therein is give I thee also: And even in the
presence of the sons of my people give I it thee to bury thy dead
in. Then Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land, and
spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the country
saying: I pray thee hear me, I will give silver for the field, take
it of me, and so will I bury my dead there. Ephron answered Abraham
saying unto him: My lord, hearken unto me. The land is worth four
hundred sickles of silver: But what is that betwixt thee and me?
bury thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron and weighed him the
silver which he had said in the audience of the sons of Heth. Even
four hundred silver sickles of current money among merchants. Thus
was the field of Ephron wherein the double cave is before Mamre:
even the field and the cave that is therein and all the trees of the
field which grow in all the borders round about, made sure unto
Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and
of all that went in at the gates of the city. And then Abraham
buried Sara his wife in the double cave of the field that lieth
before Mamre, otherwise called Ebron in the land of Canaan. And so
both the field and the cave that is therein, was made unto Abraham,
a sure possession to bury in, of the sons of Heth.
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Chapters 1-7 |
8-16 |
17-23 |
24-29 |
30-36 |
37-41 |
42-47 |
48-50
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