Sarah’s lifetime in years was one hundred and twenty seven, all the years of her life.
Sarah died in Arba-town (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham mourned his wife,
So he came to mourn Sarah and weep for her, then he rose up from before his own dead
And he told the Hittites, “I am a sojourner who has settled among you,” and said,
“Give me title to a burial site among you, so that I may bury from view
My own dead.” And the Hittites responded to him, saying, “Hear us, my lord. Now since you
Are exalted by God in our midst, bury your dead in our choicest burial site.
None among us denies you his plot for your dead.” Abraham then bowed to the Hittites.
He bowed low to the Hittites, the folk of the land, and said, “If this is your true request
That I bury my dead out of sight, then hear me, and for me intercede at your best
With Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may give me title to the cave of Machpelah,
Which he owns. It is at the far edge of his land, and I’ll pay the full price to that fella.
Let him sell it to me in your presence as burial site.” Ephron was sitting there,
With the Hittites. Then Ephron the Hittite arose, giving answer so that all could hear,
“No, my lord, hear me. The field I give you, and give you the cave on that land,” Ephron said,
“Here, I give it to you in the presence of my people’s sons. Go and bury your dead.”
Abraham bowed before the people of the land, speaking to Ephron so all could hear,
“But wait, hear me out, let me pay you the land’s price, take it, so I may bury dead there.”
Ephron answered to Abraham, “My lord, hear me. This small land has a value, we’ve said,
Of four hundred silver shekels, what’s that between me and you? Go and bury your dead.”
Abraham heeded Ephron’s terms, weighed out to him the silver, in its full promised weight
Which the Hittites had heard, four hundred silver shekels priced at the going merchants’ rate.
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, near Mamre, the field and the cave therein,
And all trees in the area passed from Ephron to Abraham as his possession,
In the presence of the Hittites, and of all who entered through the town’s gates. After that,
Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave which in the field of Machpelah sat,
East of Mamre (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. And so it had passed from the Hittites,
The field with the cave in it, into Abraham’s possession as a burial site.
After these events, God tested Abraham, saying to him, “Abraham!” Without shock,
Abraham replied, “Here I am.” God said, “Take your son, the favored one you love, Isaac,
And go to the land of Seeing, Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering,
Upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” So Abraham, the next morning,
Saddled his ass and took with him two servants and his son Isaac, since he was devout.
He split wood for the offering, rose up, and went to the place God had told him about.
On the third day did Abraham lift up his eyes, and he then saw the place from afar.
Abraham told his men, “You stay here with the ass, while the boy and I both go up there,
We will worship and then we’ll return to you.” Abraham took all the offering wood,
And placed it upon Isaac his son. In his hand, he took firestone and knife where he stood.
So the two of them went off together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!”
Abraham replied, “Here I am, Isaac, my son.” Isaac said, “Please don’t think me a bother,
Here are firestone and wood, but now where is the lamb for the offering? I don’t perceive it.”
Abraham replied, “God will see to the lamb for His own offering, my son. Believe it.”
So the two of them went off together, arriving at the place that God had mentioned.
Abraham built the altar there, arranged the wood, and then finally bound Isaac his son,
Placing him on the altar on top of the wood. And then Abraham reached out his hand,
He took up the knife to slay his son. But God’s messenger called from heaven, “Abraham!”
The Lord’s messenger called to him, “Abraham! Abraham!” Abraham said, “Here I am.”
And the messenger said, “Don’t raise your hand against the boy, do not do one thing to him.
For I now know that you fear the Lord, since you did not withhold your son, favored, from me.”
Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw a ram with its horns caught in the shrubbery.
Abraham took the ram, and then offered it up on the same spot where his son had been.
“Adonai-yireh” (”God Sees”) he named the site, so we say, “On God’s mountain it is seen.”
Now God’s messenger called to him from heaven a second time, said, “By myself I swear,
The Lord has said, because you have done this thing and not withheld your son, your favored heir,
I will bless you indeed, I will make your seed many, like heaven’s stars up in the sky,
Like the sand on the seashore. The gate of your foes all your seed shall possess by and by,
All the nations of earth shall bless themselves by your seed, because you did heed my command.”
Abraham then returned to his servants, and they went together to Beersheva’s lands.
So then Abraham stayed in Beersheva. And following all this, Abraham was told,
“Milcah has also borne, sons to Nahor your brother: The firstborn, Utz, is the most old,
And Buz (brother of Utz), Kemuel who then fathered Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo,
And Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” Now Bethuel fathered Rebekah, as we know.
These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. And his concubine named Reumah,
She had also borne children: She bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and then she bore Maacah.
The Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord dealt with her as He had spoken.
Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, when life had awoken
In the season of which God had spoken to him, in the spring. Abraham named his son,
Whom Sarah had born to him, “Isaac” (which translates as “He laughs” in old Hebrew tongue).
And then Abraham circumcised Isaac his son at eight days, as the Lord had commanded.
Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born, and on the earth landed.
So then Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me, all who hear of it will laugh with me.”
And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse sons? But indeed,
I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child then grew up and the child was soon weaned,
And so Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac’s weaning had been seen and gleaned.
Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
She said to Abraham, “Cast this slave-woman out, along with her son. Send them both walking,
For the son of this slave shall not share in the inheritance with my own son, Isaac.”
This distressed Abraham since the matter dealt with his son, and looked not to be solved quick.
But God told Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and the slave Sarah blames,
Heed all Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your line will be continued and bear your name.
And now as for the son of the slave-woman, I will also make a nation of him,
For he too is your seed.” Early next morning, Abraham took bread and a waterskin,
And gave them to Hagar, he put them on her shoulder, with the child and sent them away.
She went off and she wandered in the wilderness of Beersheva. Until on one day,
When the water was gone from the waterskin, she left the child beneath a bush nearby,
Then she went to sit, far as a bowshot away, thinking, “Let me not see the child die.”
So she sat far away, lifted her voice and wept. But God heard the boy’s voice from afar.
And God’s messenger called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar?
Do not be afraid, for the Lord has heard the voice of the boy at his present location.
Arise, lift the boy up, and hold him with your hand, for of him I will make a great nation.”
So God opened her eyes and Hagar saw before her a well of water, so she went,
Filled the skin up with water, and let the boy drink from it, hoping his thirst would relent.
God was with the boy as he grew up, he lived in the wilderness, became a bowman.
He lived in Paran’s wilderness, and his mother got a wife for him from Egypt’s land.
At about that time, Abimelech and Phicol, chief of his troops, said to Abraham,
“God is with you in all that you do. So now, swear to me by God, right here where I am,
That you will not deal falsely with me, with my progeny, or their progeny in turn,
But in good faith, as I’ve dealt with you, deal with me, and with the land in which you’ve sojourned.”
Abraham said, “I so swear.” But Abraham rebuked Abimelech where he did stand
All because of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized beforehand.
Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this thing, and until now you hadn’t told me,
I’ve heard nothing about it until today.” So Abraham took some oxen and sheep
And gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them then cut a covenant between them.
And then Abraham set seven ewes of his flock aside. When Abimelech had seen them,
He asked Abraham, “What do these seven ewes that you have set aside mean?” He replied,
“These are seven ewes you should accept from my hand, proof that I’ve dug this well we’ve espied.”
Therefore that place was known as Beersheva, (which means “Well of seven” or “Well of the oath”)
For the two of them swore at Beersheva, and there cut a covenant between them both.
Then Abimelech and Phicol, chief of his troops, arose and returned to the country
And the land of the Philistines. Meanwhile, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree
In Beersheva, and there he did call out the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
And so Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days abroad.
February 16th, 2009 in
Genesis |
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Abraham journeyed on from there to the Negev, settled down between Kadesh and Shur.
Sojourning in Gerar, Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “That one is my sister.”
Abimelech, the King of Gerar, had sent out to have Sarah taken to his side.
But God came to the dreams of Abimelech in the night and said to him, “You must die,
Due to the woman whom you have taken, for that one is another man’s wedded wife.”
Abimelech had not come near her, and said, “My lord, would you drain a nation of life
Even though it is innocent? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister?’ And plus,
She said, ‘He is my brother!’ And so with a blameless heart and clean hands I have done thus.”
And God said to him in the dream, “I know it was with whole heart you did this, consequently
I have kept you from sinning against Me, which is why I did not let you touch her gently.
But now, give the man’s wife back to him, for he is a prophet and he can intercede
On your behalf, so you may live. But if you fail to return the man’s wife, then take heed:
Know that you shall die, not only you, but all that are yours will become equally harmed.”
In the morning, Abimelech called his servants and told them. They were greatly alarmed.
Abimelech had Abraham summoned and said to him, “What’s this to us you have done?
What wrong have I done you that you should bring such great guilt on me and upon my kingdom?
Deeds that should not be done, you have done to me.” Abimelech said to Abraham more,
“What were you thinking that made you do this thing?” Abraham said, “I told myself before,
‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
And besides, she is really my sister, my dad’s daughter, though my mom didn’t give her life.
So she became my wife. And when God’s power caused me to wander from my father’s house,
I said to her, ‘Please do this small kindness for me, of the truth, be quiet like a mouse.
And wherever we travel, say, “He is my brother.”’ And that’s how we got in this jam.”
Abimelech took sheep and oxen, slaves and maids, and gave all of them to Abraham,
And returned his wife Sarah to him. Abimelech said, “Here, all my land is before you.
Settle wherever looks good to you.” And to Sarah, Abimelech said, “Now, as for you,
I hereby give your brother one thousand pieces of silver, to serve as vindication,
So that those who are with you, and everyone, may overlook your recent situation.”
And then Abraham prayed to God and interceded, and God healed Abimelech,
Along with his wife and his slave women, so that they could all bear children at his beck.
For God previously had closed fast and obstructed every womb in his household area
All because of the incident with the wife of Abraham, all on account of Sarah.
The two messengers came to Sodom at sunset, as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s gate.
When Lot saw them, he rose up to greet them and bowed his head low to the ground, saying, “Wait!
Now I pray you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and there spend the night,
Wash your feet, and then you can wake early to go on your way.” They said, “No, that’s alright.
We will spend the night out in the streets of the square.” But Lot urged them strongly, so instead
They turned his way and came into his house where he made for them a feast and baked flatbread,
And they ate. They had not yet lain down, when the townsfolk, the men of Sodom, young and old,
All the people from even the outskirts of town, they encircled the house, feeling bold.
They called out to Lot and said to him, “Where are the two men that came to you on this night?
Bring them out to us, we want to know them more intimately!” Lot was stuck in this plight.
He went out to them, to the entrance, shut the door behind him and he said to the band,
“Pray you, brothers, do not be so wicked. I have two daughters who have not known a man,
Pray let me bring them out to you, and you may deal with them however you think is best,
But to these men do nothing because they’ve come under the shelter of my roof as guests.”
But they said, “Step aside!” And said, “This fellow came to sojourn here, and now wants to judge?
Now we’ll do worse things to you than them!” And they pressed hard against Lot. (a serious nudge.)
They stepped closer to break down the door, but the messengers reached out a hand and grabbed Lot,
They pulled him into the house with them and then shut the door. And the men outside were caught
By a dazzling light from the messengers, blinding all men at the door, great and small,
So that all of the men at the entrance were unable to locate the door at all.
Then the messengers said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law, sons, or daughters?
Anyone whom you have in the city, bring them out of this place, for we shall bring slaughter!
We’re about to bring ruin upon the whole city, how great is their cry before God!
God has sent us to bring it to ruin.” And so Lot went out and spoke to his inlaws.
To his sons-in-law, those who had taken his daughters in marriage, he said, “Up! Get out!
Quick, get out of this place, for God will bring ruin on the city!” But they heard with doubt.
They thought that Lot was joking, it seemed to his son-in-laws that he was like one who jests.
When the dawn came, the messengers urged Lot on, saying, “Up! Take your wife and daughters, lest
You end up swept away in the city’s iniquity.” When he lagged, they grabbed his hand,
And his wife’s hand, and also the hands of his two daughters- for the Lord’s pity was grand,
And they brought him out and left him outside the city. Then one said, “Escape, for your life!
Do not look behind you, don’t stand still on the Plain, but just flee to the hills with your wife.
Otherwise you will be swept away.” But Lot said to one of them, “No, pray, my good lord,
Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have been gracious to have me aboard,
You have saved my life, but I can’t flee to the hills, lest the wickedness cling to me, killing
me.
Now pray, that town is near enough for one to flee to– such a small place– I’d live there willingly,
So my life could be saved.” He replied, “Very well, I will grant you this favor also,
By not overturning this town which you have mentioned. Now move quickly, escape there, go!
For I am unable to do anything until you have arrived in the town, safe.”
Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar (which can be translated as “a small place”).
As the sun rose up over the earth and Lot entered Zoar, the Lord rained from the sky
On Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, causing all in those cities to die.
And He overturned all of the plain. In those cities all life, man and plant, met a halt.
Now Lot’s wife while escaping looked back behind him, and turned into a pillar of salt.
Abraham left early in the morning to where he had stood in the presence of God,
He looked down on the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all of the Plain, and was awed.
For he saw the dense smoke of the land rising up like the dense smoke that comes from a furnace.
So it was, when God brought ruin to the plain’s cities, he kept Abraham in mind, earnest,
And for his sake, God sent Lot from the overturning, away from the midst of destruction
When He overturned all of the cities where Lot had lived before the two men’s instructions.
Lot went up from Zoar and settled in the hills, his two daughters with him to be saved,
For he was afraid to live down in Zoar, therefore all three of them lived in a cave.
The firstborn daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old, and there is no man
To come in to us, or to know us and consort with us in the way of all the land.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and lie down with him, so that we may bear offspring.”
So that night they made their father drink wine, then the firstborn went in and lay down with him.
Now the father knew nothing of her laying down, or her rising up. So the next day,
The firstborn daughter said to the younger daughter, “Look, last night with our father I lay.
Let us have him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and lie with him, he’ll never know.
That way our seed will be kept alive.” So that night, they made their father drink wine also.
Then the younger one went and lay down with him, but once again Lot was well ignorant
Of her lying down and rising. So by their father, Lot’s two daughters became pregnant.
The firstborn had a son Moab (meaning “by father”), who fathered today’s Moabites,
And the younger one’s son Ben-Ammi (”son of my kinspeople”) fathered the Ammonites.
Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at his tent’s front door
In the heat of the day. He looked up, and saw three men near him that were not there before.
When he saw them, he ran from the door of his tent to greet them, and he bowed to the ground.
He said, “My lords, pray, if I’ve found favor with you, do not pass by this servant you’ve found.
Pray let water be fetched, just a little, then wash your feet and recline under the tree;
Let me fetch you a morsel of bread to refresh your hearts, then go on with your journey–
After all, you have passed by your servant’s way.” And the three spoke, “Do just as you have said.”
Abraham quickly ran into the tent with Sarah and said, “Quick, we’ll need three small breads.
Take three measures of good flour, knead it, make cakes!” Abraham ran to the herd outside,
He took one fine young calf, and gave it to a slave, who prepared it quickly to provide.
Then he fetched cream and milk, and the calf he’d prepared, and placed all of it before the three.
He was standing nearby them right under the tree while they ate. And then they said to he,
“Where is Sarah your wife?” He said, “Here, in the tent.” One then said, “I will return to you
In the spring, at the time when life blossoms; and your wife Sarah will blossom a son too!”
Sarah was listening at the door of the tent, behind Abraham, hid from his gaze.
And both Sarah and Abraham were old in years; Sarah no longer had women’s ways.
Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I’m withered and worn, am I now to have pleasure?
With my husband so old?” God said to Abraham, “Now why does Sarah laugh in such measure?
Why does she ask herself, ‘Shall I really give birth to a child, now that I am so old?’
Is there anything beyond the Lord? I will return to you at the time I’ve foretold,
In the spring, when life blossoms, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah spoke a fabrication,
Saying, “I did not laugh.” For she was afraid. But God said, “You did laugh, on that occasion.”
The men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom, Abraham went with them as escort.
God said to Himself, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I’m about to do, or report?
For this Abraham is to become a great nation, a populous nation as well,
And then all of the nations on earth are to find blessing through Abraham for themselves.
For I have chosen him and known him, he will instruct his sons and his household in trust,
After him to keep walking the ways of the Lord, by doing that which is right and just,
So that God may bring for Abraham what He has promised is to be Abraham’s fate.”
So God said, “The outcry in Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin has great weight.
I will go down and see if they’ve done altogether according to the cry I heard.
Great destruction if so. And if not, I will know.” And that was the Lord Almighty’s word.
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but still Abraham stood before God.
Abraham came close and said, “Will you really kill innocent men along with the flawed?
Perhaps in this big city of guilty men live fifty innocents, are they to die?
Will you not spare the place for the sake of fifty innocents, who might in that place lie?
Heaven forbid that You do a thing like this, that You would bring death to the innocent
Along with the guilty, so both types of men end up rewarded to the same extent.
Indeed, far be it from You to do this! Shall not the judge of all earth do what is just?”
God replied, “If I find in Sodom fifty innocents, then spare the city I must.
I will bear the sin of the whole city for their sake.” Then Abraham spoke and said, “Pray,
I have ventured to speak to my Lord God Almighty, and I am but mere dust and clay.
Now, perhaps of the innocent fifty, five will lack– For that, shall none be left alive?
Will the city fall for them?” God said, “I will not bring ruin, if I find there forty-five.”
But then Abraham spoke up again and said, “Maybe only forty there are not bad.”
God said, “I will not do it, for those forty’s sake.” Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be mad
If I speak a bit further: Perhaps only thirty such innocent men will be found.”
God said, “I will not do it, if I find there thirty such innocent men on the ground.”
But then Abraham said, “Pray, I venture to speak to my Lord, if my words he will take.
Maybe only twenty will be found.” God said, “I won’t bring ruin, for those twenty’s sake.”
But then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be mad that I speak up this one last time again:
What if only ten can be found?” God said, “I will not bring ruin, for the sake of the ten.”
And the Lord went his way, when He had finished speaking to Abraham, then He departed.
And so Abraham too then returned to his place, where he was ‘ere this dialogue started.
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God the Almighty. Walk in my ways and be wholehearted and blameless of sin.
I set my covenant between Me and you, and I will make of you very many.”
Abram threw himself down on his face and then God spoke with him saying, “Look, as for Me,
Here, My covenant is with you, so you shall become the father of a crowd of nations.
And no longer shall your name be Abram, but Abraham shall be your new appellation,
For I make you the father of a crowd of nations. And I make you very fertile,
I will make nations of you; and kings will come out of you, not right now, but in a while.
I establish my covenant ‘tween Me and you, and all your seed that comes after you,
As an eternal covenant to be God to you, and to be God to your seed too.
I give both to you and to your offspring the land you have sojourned in, all of Canaan,
To be an everlasting possession. I will be their God.” God said to Abraham,
“As for you, you and your offspring are to keep My covenant through all ages to be
This is My covenant which you must keep, between Me and you, and too your progeny:
Every male among you shall be circumcised. You must circumcise flesh of your foreskin,
So it serves as a sign of the covenant ‘tween Me and you. Through each generation,
At the age of eight days, every male among you must be circumcised. This is a need
For all of your servants, be they house-born or bought from a foreigner not of your seed.
Yes, they all must be circumcised, house-born and purchased, your offspring and not your offspring,
And that way shall My covenant be in your flesh marked as covenant everlasting.
And if any uncircumcised male fails to circumcise from the flesh of his foreskin,
Then that person has broken my covenant, and also shall be cut off from his kin.”
God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall nevermore call her Sarai,
For Sarah is her name. I will bless her, and even give you a son from her, will I.
I will bless her so that she will give rise to nations, kings of people will come from her.”
But then Abraham fell on his face and just laughed, and he said to himself, “Yeah, oh sure.
To a hundred-year-old man, will there be kids born? Or shall Sarah at ninety give birth?”
Abraham said to God, “Oh, if only Ishmael might live in your presence on earth.”
God said, “Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and this shall be his name:
‘Isaac’, meaning ‘he laughs’. I’ll establish my covenant with him as one to maintain
For the ages, and for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, your words I’m heeding:
Behold, I will make him blessed, and make him bear fruit, and I will make him many, exceeding.
He will father twelve chieftans, and I’ll make a great nation of him, so shall it commence.
But my covenant I will establish with Issac, whom Sarah will bear one year hence.”
When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God then went up, from beside Abraham.
Abraham took Ishmael his son and all slaves that were born in his house, on his land,
And all of those he bought with his money, all males in Abraham’s house, born and bought,
And on that same day he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins, as God told him he ought.
And so Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he had his foreskin’s flesh circumcised,
And Ishmael his son was thirteen when he had the flesh of his foreskin circumcised.
On that very same day two were circumcised, Abraham, and too his son Ishmael,
And all of his household, both house-born and purchased, were then circumcised with him as well.
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child. She did have, though, an Egyptian maid.
Her name was Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “Look here, the Lord God has clearly displayed
That he wishes to keep me from bearing children. Please go into my maid where she lies;
Perhaps through her, I shall have a son to rise up.” Abram heeded the words of Sarai.
So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid– after Abram had lived
For ten years in the land of Canaan– and gave her to her husband Abram as wife/gift.
He went in to Hagar and Hagar became pregnant. But when she saw she had conceived,
Her mistress became lowered in her esteem. And so Sarai said to Abram, aggrieved,
“The wrong done to me is your fault! Yes, I myself brought my maid to your bosom; but now
Since she sees she’s conceived, she sees me with contempt. May the Lord judge between us somehow.”
Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. You may deal with her as you see fitting.”
Sarai treated her harshly, so she ran away. But God’s messenger found Hagar sitting
By a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the road going to Shur.
He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, from where have you come, and to where are you going, what’s more?”
She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” And then God’s messenger said to her,
“Go return to your mistress and let yourself be treated harshly, and do not demur.”
And God’s messenger said, “I shall make your seed many, too many to count when I’m done.”
And the Lord’s messenger said to her, “Behold, now you are pregnant! You will bear a son;
Name him Ishmael, (”God heeds”), for God heeds your suffering. He shall be a wild man,
With his hand against all and all theirs against him, he shall settle among his brethren.”
So she called out the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God of Seeing,” she said,
“Have I still gone on seeing once the Lord has seen me?” (She was surprised not to be dead.)
And so therefore the well was called Beerlahairoi, (”Well of the Living One Who Sees Me”)
And it lies between Kadesh and Bered. (The site where she saw she was seen, all can see.)
Hagar bore a son to Abram, Ishmael was the name Abram had called him at birth.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram on this earth.
After these things the Lord’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Abram, fear not.
I am a shield to you, your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “My Lord God,
What would you give me? For I shall die cursed and childless, and my home’s domestic caretaker
Is Eliezer the Damascan.” And then Abram spoke further to his Lord and maker,
“Look, You gave me no child of my own, now my chief servant must serve as my heir.”
But God’s word came to him, replying, “He will not. For your heir, your own seed you will bear.”
He brought Abram outside and said, “Look at the heavens and count the stars. Can you count them?”
God continued, “So shall be your offspring.” And trust was placed in the Lord God by Abram.
God had deemed this as righteousness on Abram’s part, and He said to him, “I am the Lord
The one who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as hoard.”
Abram asked, “My Lord God, how will I know that I am the one to inherit the land?”
God replied, “Fetch me a calf of three years, a she-goat of three years, a three-year-old ram,
And a turtledove, and a young fledgling.” Abram fetched him all of these, cut them in two,
And placed half of each facing the other, except for the birds which he did not cut through.
And though vultures descended to feast on the carcasses, Abram drove them all away.
As the sun set, a deep slumber fell upon Abram, a great darkness and some dismay.
The Lord said to Abram, “Know this, that your offspring will be strangers in a land not theirs,
And the nation shall put them in servitude, and then oppress them for four hundred years.
But then I shall bring judgment upon that same nation, and they will go free with great wealth.
As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace, buried after a long life of health,
At a ripe old age. But in the fourth generation, they will return here once again,
For the iniquity of the Amorites will not be fully complete until then.”
It was when the sun set, and the dark of night came, that a smoking oven could be seen,
And a fiery torch appeared near the pieces of the oven, and passed straight between.
And on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give your offspring
All this land, from the River of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates flowing,
The land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites as well,
The Rephaim, the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and where the Jebusites dwell.”
Now it was in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar,
Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, that they all made war
Against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah,
Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Zoar (which was then known as Bela).
All the latter joined forces in the limestone valley of Siddim (that’s now the Dead Sea).
For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year this would not be.
They rebelled, but then in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and kings with him in fights
Struck at the Rephaim at Ashteroth-Karnaim, and at Ham, attacked the Zuzites,
Beat the Emim at Shaveh-Kiriathain, the Horites in their hill-country of Seir
As far as El-Paran, which is out by the wilderness. On their way back, they came near
To En-Mishpat, the Judgement Spring now called Kadesh, and conquered from the Amalekites
All their land, and then also all those settled in Hazazon-Tamar, the Amorites.
Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, king of Admah, king of Zeboiim,
And the king of Bela (now Zoar), went out to fight them in the valley of Siddim;
To fight Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel
The king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar– Four kings against five. The vale
Of Siddim was filled with pits of bitumen. So when Sodom and Gomorrah’s kings fled,
They flung themselves into them. Those that remained fled up into the hill-country instead.
And they took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all of their provisions too,
And they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and withdrew;
For he’d settled in Sodom. But one who escaped brought the news to Abram the Hebrew,
Who dwelt near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner,
They were Abram’s allies. And when Abram heard his kinsman had been taken prisoner,
He took his retainers and his house-born slaves, three hundred eighteen went as far as Dan
In pursuit. And at night, Abram split up his forces against them as his battle plan.
Abram’s servants divided and conquered them, and they drove them to Hobah in pursuit,
To the north of Damascus. And Abram returned with his kinsman Lot, and all his loot.
All the property, and all the women, and all other people, Abram had brought back.
So the king of Sodom had gone out to meet Abram when he returned from his attack
Against Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, to the valley of Shaveh (King’s Valley).
Melchizedek, the king of Salem brought out bread and wine to celebrate Abram’s sally.
And since he was a priest of the highest God, El Elyon, he had blessed Abram by saying,
“Blessed be Abram by El Elyon, founder of heaven and earth, He to whom we are praying.
And blessed be God Most-High, who has kindly delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And then Abram gave him a tenth of everything (which is how tithes came into the land).
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, take the goods for your own.”
Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand and swear to the Lord, El Elyon,
The creator of heaven and earth, I shall take from you no thread, not one sandal-strap,
Nothing of yours; lest you say, ‘I made Abram rich!’, or some other similar claptrap.
I want nothing for me, only what my servants have used up; and then as for the shares
That belong to the men who went with me- Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre- let them take theirs.”
