Genesis 16-18

Contemporary English Version

Hagar and Ishmael

16 Abram's wife Sarai had not been able to have any children. But she owned a young Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, ² and Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has not given me any children. Sleep with my slave, and if she has a child, it will be mine.”^[a] Abram agreed, ³ and Sarai gave him Hagar to be his wife. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years. ⁴ Later, when Hagar knew she was going to have a baby, she became proud and treated Sarai hatefully.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “It's all your fault!^[b] I gave you my slave woman, but she has been hateful to me ever since she found out she was pregnant. You have done me wrong, and you will have to answer to the Lord for this.”

⁶ Abram said, “All right! She's your slave—do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai began treating Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

⁷ Hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur. While she was there, the angel of the Lord came to her ⁸ and asked, “Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She answered, “I'm running away from Sarai, my owner.”

⁹ The angel said, “Go back to Sarai and be her slave. ^10-11 I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael,^[c] because I have heard your cry for help. And someday I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all. ¹² But your son will live far from his relatives; he will be like a wild donkey, fighting everyone, and everyone fighting him.”

¹³ Hagar thought, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?”^[d] So from then on she called him, “The God Who Sees Me.”^{[e] 14} That's why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered, “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”^[f]

^15-16 (A) Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to their son, and he named him Ishmael.

God's Promise to Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right, ² I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.” ³ Abram bowed with his face to the ground, and God said:

^4-5 (B) I promise that you will be the father of many nations. So now I'm changing your name from Abram to Abraham.^{[g] 6} I will give you a lot of descendants, and they will become great nations. Some of them will even be kings.

^7 (C) I will always keep the promise I have made to you and your descendants, because I am your God and their God. ^8 (D) I will give you and them the land in which you are now a foreigner. I will give the whole land of Canaan to your family forever, and I will be their God.

⁹ Abraham, you and all future members of your family must promise to obey me. ^10-11 (E) As the sign that you are keeping this promise, you must circumcise every man and boy in your family. ^12-13 From now on, your family must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old. You must even circumcise any man or boy you have as a slave, both those born in your homes and those you buy from foreigners. This will be a sign that my promise to you will last forever. ¹⁴ Any man who isn't circumcised hasn't kept his part of the promise and cannot be one of my people.

¹⁵ Abraham, from now on your wife's name will be Sarah instead of Sarai. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and you will have a son by her. She will become the mother of nations, and some of her descendants will even be kings.

¹⁷ Abraham bowed with his face to the ground and thought, “I am almost 100 years old. How can I become a father? And Sarah is 90. How can she have a child?” So he started laughing. ¹⁸ Then he asked God, “Why not let Ishmael^[h] inherit what you have promised me?”

¹⁹ But God answered:

No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac,^[i] and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.

²⁰ However, I have heard what you asked me to do for Ishmael, and so I will also bless him with many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make his family a great nation. ²¹ But your son Isaac will be born about this time next year, and the promise I am making to you and your family will be for him and his descendants forever.

²² God finished speaking to Abraham and then left.

^23-27 On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all the other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was 99 years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was 13.

The Lord Promises Abraham a Son

18 One hot summer afternoon while Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, the Lord appeared to him. ^2 (F) Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ³ and said, “Please come to my home where I can serve you. ⁴ I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under a tree. ⁵ Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honored to serve you.”

“Thank you very much,” they answered. “We accept your offer.”

⁶ Abraham went quickly to his tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread.” ⁷ After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸ He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the tree, ⁹ and they asked, “Where's your wife Sarah?”

“She is right there in the tent,” Abraham answered.

^10 (G) One of the guests was the Lord, and he said, “I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son.”

Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ^12 (H) So she laughed and said to herself, “Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?”^[j]

¹³ The Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ^14 (I) I am the Lord! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, “I didn't laugh.”

“Yes, you did!” he answered.

Abraham Prays for Sodom

¹⁶ When the three men got ready to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked part of the way with them.

¹⁷ The Lord said to himself, “I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, ¹⁸ since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all the other nations on earth.^{[k] 19} I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair. If they do, I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised.”

²⁰ The Lord said, “Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ²¹ Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I would like to know.”

²² The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the Lord stayed with Abraham. ²³ And Abraham asked him, “Lord, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ²⁴ Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only 50 good people in it? ²⁵ You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right.”

²⁶ The Lord replied, “If I find 50 good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed.”

²⁷ Abraham answered, “I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, Lord, for daring to speak to you like this. ²⁸ But suppose there are only 45 good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?”

“If I find 45 good people,” the Lord replied, “I won't destroy the city.”

²⁹ “Suppose there are just 40 good people?” Abraham asked.

“Even for them,” the Lord replied, “I won't destroy the city.”

³⁰ Abraham said, “Please don't be angry, Lord, if I ask you what you will do if there are only 30 good people in the city.”

“If I find 30,” the Lord replied, “I still won't destroy it.”

³¹ Then Abraham said, “I don't have any right to ask you, Lord, but what would you do if you find only 20?”

“Because of them, I won't destroy the city,” was the Lord's answer.

³² Finally, Abraham said, “Please don't get angry, Lord, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only 10 good people there.”

“For the sake of 10 good people,” the Lord told him, “I still won't destroy the city.”

³³ After speaking with Abraham, the Lord left, and Abraham went back home.