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As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”

Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Far be it from You to do 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! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!

Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.

“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.

Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains—for he was afraid to stay in Zoar—where they lived in a cave.

The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.

The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”

Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?

Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”

Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”

And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”

So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

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

But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”

Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.

Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

…to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”

So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.

…and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

…but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.

So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”

“Drink, my lord,” she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have had enough to drink.”

Meanwhile, the man watched her silently to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.

And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.

And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels.

Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.

“Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” said Laban. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”

My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and my master has given him everything he owns.

My master made me swear an oath and said, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell,

…but you shall go to my father’s house and to my kindred to take a wife for my son.’

And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.

And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.

So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!

Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’

Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’

And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

But he replied, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master.”

Abraham lived a total of 175 years.

And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”