The World English Bible (WEB) Part 2

Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. 12:5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls whom they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came. 12:6 Abram pa.s.sed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land.

12:7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your seed."

He built an altar there to Yahweh, who appeared to him. 12:8 He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on the name of Yahweh. 12:9 Abram traveled, going on still toward the South.

12:10 There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. 12:11 It happened, when he had come near to enter Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

12:12 It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive. 12:13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you."

12:14 It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 12:16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 12:17 Yahweh plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 12:18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way."

12:20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they brought him on the way with his wife and all that he had.

13:1 Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 13:3 He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 13:4 to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh. 13:5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 13:6 The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. 13:7 There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in the land at that time. 13:8 Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives. 13:9 Isn't the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

13:10 Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. 13:11 So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other.

13:12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13:13 Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.

13:14 Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 13:15 for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. 13:16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered. 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth; for I will give it to you."

13:18 Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.

14:1 It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of s.h.i.+nar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, 14:2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, s.h.i.+nab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). 14:3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). 14:4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness. 14:7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 14:8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; 14:9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of s.h.i.+nar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills. 14:11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 14:12 They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

14:13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram. 14:14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. 14:15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

14:16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

14:17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of G.o.d Most High. 14:19 He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of G.o.d Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: 14:20 and blessed be G.o.d Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

Abram gave him a tenth of all.

14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

14:22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, G.o.d Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 14:23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.' 14:24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

15:1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your s.h.i.+eld, your exceedingly great reward."

15:2 Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

15:3 Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."

15:4 Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir." 15:5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be." 15:6 He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. 15:7 He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."

15:8 He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"

15:9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 15:10 He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. 15:11 The birds of prey came down on the carca.s.ses, and Abram drove them away.

15:12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. 15:13 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, 15:15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full." 15:17 It came to pa.s.s that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch pa.s.sed between these pieces. 15:18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: 15:19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 15:20 the Hitt.i.tes, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgas.h.i.+tes, and the Jebusites."

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 16:2 Sarai said to Abram, "See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her." Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 16:3 Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. 16:4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 16:5 Sarai said to Abram, "This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you."

16:6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes." Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

16:7 The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 16:8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?"

She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai."

16:9 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." 16:10 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for mult.i.tude." 16:11 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 16:12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers."

16:13 She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are a G.o.d who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?" 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

16:15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am G.o.d Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. 17:2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."

17:3 Abram fell on his face. G.o.d talked with him, saying, 17:4 "As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a mult.i.tude of nations. 17:5 Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a mult.i.tude of nations. 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. 17:7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a G.o.d to you and to your seed after you. 17:8 I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their G.o.d."

17:9 G.o.d said to Abraham, "As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circ.u.mcised. 17:11 You shall be circ.u.mcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 He who is eight days old will be circ.u.mcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. 17:13 He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circ.u.mcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 17:14 The uncirc.u.mcised male who is not circ.u.mcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant."

17:15 G.o.d said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. 17:16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her."

17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?" 17:18 Abraham said to G.o.d, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"

17:19 G.o.d said, "No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 17:21 But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year."

17:22 When he finished talking with him, G.o.d went up from Abraham. 17:23 Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circ.u.mcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as G.o.d had said to him. 17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circ.u.mcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 17:25 Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circ.u.mcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 17:26 In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circ.u.mcised. 17:27 All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circ.u.mcised with him.

18:1 Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 18:2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, 18:3 and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant. 18:4 Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 18:5 I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant."

They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

18:6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes." 18:7 Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. 18:8 He took b.u.t.ter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

18:9 They said to him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?

He said, "See, in the tent."

18:10 He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son."

Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 18:12 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

18:13 Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?' 18:14 Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid.

He said, "No, but you did laugh."

18:16 The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 18:17 Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18:18 seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 18:19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him." 18:20 Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."