in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the 34 morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger, "Lo, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.” And they made 35 their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daugh- 36 And the first-born 37

ters of Lot with child by their father. bare a son, and called his name Moab [FROM A FATHER]: he was the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the 38 younger also bare a son, and called his name Benammi [son OF MY OWN PEOPLE]: he was the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

CHAP. XX.-And Abraham journeyed thence toward the 1 south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, 2 "She is my sister:" and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by 3 night, and said to him, "Lo, thou art a dead man, on account of the woman whom thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, 4 "O Jehovah, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said 5 he not to me, 'She is my sister?' and she, even she herself, said, 'He is my brother in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this." And God said 6 to him in a dream, "Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and suffered thee not to touch her. Now there- 7 fore restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou restore her not, know that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine." And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and 8 called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing and all the men were greatly afraid. Then Abi- 9 melech called Abraham, and said to him, "What hast thou done to us? and in what have I offended thee, that thou wouldst bring on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Deeds that ought not to be done, thou hast done to me." Abime- 10 lech said also to Abraham, "What sawest thou, that thou shouldst do this thing?"

And Abraham said, "Because I 11

thought, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and 12 they will slay me for my wife's sake.' And yet indeed she is my sister; the daughter of my father, but not the daughter 13 of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew to me; at every place to which we shall come, say of

14 me, 'He is my brother.'" And Abimelech took flocks, and

herds, and men-servants, and women-servants, and gave them 15 to Abraham, and restored to him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, "Lo, my land is before thee: dwell where it 16 pleaseth thee." And to Sarah he said, "Lo, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; lo! this is for a covering of the eyes of thyself, and of all who are with thee, 17 and of all others." Thus she was absolved. So Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and 18 his maid-servants; so that they might have children. For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

1

CHAP. XXI.-And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, 2 and Jehovah did to Sarah as he had spoken: for Sarah conceived, and bare a son to Abraham in his old age, at the 3 appointed time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him, whom 4 Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, when eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac 6 was born to him. And Sarah said, "God hath prepared laughter for me; whosoever shall hear of this will laugh with 7 me." And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham, 'Sarah shall suckle children?' yet I have borne him a son in his old age." And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was 9 weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, 10 whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking: wherefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bond-woman and her son: for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my 11 son, with Isaac." And the speech was very displeasing to 12 Abraham, because of his son. But God said to Abraham, "Let it not be displeasing to thee because of the lad, and because of thy bond-woman: in all that Sarah hath said to thee, hearken to her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be

8

called.

Yet also of the son of the bond-woman will I make 13 a nation, because he is thy seed."

Then Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took 14 bread and a bottle of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and sent her away with the lad: and she departed, and wandered in the desert of Beer-sheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she placed the 15 lad under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat down 16 over against him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot for she said, "Let me not see the death of the lad." So she sat down over against him, and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the youth and the 17 angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the youth where he lieth. Arise, lift up the 18. youth, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make him a great nation." And God opened her eyes, and she saw a 19 well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave drink to the youth. And God was with the 20 youth; and he grew, and dwelt in the desert, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the desert of Paran: and 21 his mother took a wife to him out of the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and 22 Phicol the chief of his host, spake to Abraham, saying, "God is with thee in all that thou doest. Now therefore 23 swear to me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my posterity; according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou hast sojourned." And Abraham 24 said, "I swear." Then Abraham reproved Abimelech 25 because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently seized. And Abimelech said, "I know not who 26 hath done this thing; for neither didst thou tell me, nor did I hear of it till this day." And Abraham took sheep 27 and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. Then Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of 28 the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham, 29 "What mean these seven ewe-lambs, which thou hast set by themselves?" And he said, "That thou mayest take these 30 seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a testimony for me that I digged this well." Wherefore that 31 place was called Beer-sheba [THE WELL OF THE OATH]; because there they both sware. Thus they made a covenant 32

at Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the chief of his host, and they returned to the land of the 33 Philistines. And Abraham planted a tamarisk grove at Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the 34 everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

1 CHAP. XXII.—And it came to pass after these things, that God proved Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham : 2 and he said, "Here I am." And he said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell thee.” 3 And Abraham arose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and set 4 out to go to the place of which God had told him. And on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place 5 afar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the youth will go yonder 6 and worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a 7 knife and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake to Abraham his father, and said, "My father: " and he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Lo, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" 8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: " so they went both of them 9 together, till they came to the place of which God had told him: and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the 10 altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his 11 hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But an angel of Jehovah called to him out of heaven, and said, “ Abraham, 12 Abraham: and he said "Here I am." And he said, "Lay not thy hand upon the youth, nor do any thing to him for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou 13 hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and lo, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it for a burnt-offering 14 in stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of

:

دو

that place Jehovah-jireh [JEHOVAH WILL PROVIDE:] as it is said to this day, "In the mountain Jehovah will provide." And the angel of Jehovah called to Abraham out of 15 heaven the second time, and said, "By myself I swear, 16 saith Jehovah, that because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, I will 17 greatly bless thee, and I will exceedingly multiply thy seed, as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of their enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth 18 be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." Then 19 Abraham returned to his young men; and they rose up, and went together to Beer-sheba: and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

And it came to pass after these things that it was told to 20 Abraham, saying, "Lo, Milcah hath also borne children to thy brother Nahor; Huz his first-born, and Buz his brother, 21 and Kemuel the father of Aram, and Chesed, and Hazo, 22 and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel." (Now Bethuel was 23 the father of Rebekah :) these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. His concubine also, whose 24 name was Reumah, bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

CHAP. XXIII.-And Sarah was a hundred and twenty- 1 seven years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah; and Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron in the 2 land of Canaan: and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before 3 his dead, and spake to the sons of Heth, saying, "I am a 4 stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, 5 saying to him, "Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty 6 prince amongst us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: not one of us will withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead." And Abraham 7 stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. And he spake to them, saying, "If it 8 be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he hath, 9. which is at the end of his field: at its full price let him give it