Day 5 of 364

^15:1After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” ^15:2Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ^15:3Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” ^15:4Behold, the LORD’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” ^15:5The LORD 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 your offspring will be.” ^15:6He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness. ^15:7He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” ^15:8He said, “Lord GOD, how will I know that I will inherit it?” ^15:9He 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.” ^15:10He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. ^15:11The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. ^15:12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. ^15:13He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. ^15:14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth; ^15:15but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. ^15:16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” ^15:17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ^15:18In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: ^15:19the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ^15:20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ^15:21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” ^16:1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ^16:2Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ^16:3Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ^16:4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ^16:5Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May the LORD judge between me and you.” ^16:6But 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. ^16:7The LORD’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. ^16:8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” ^16:9The LORD’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” ^16:10The LORD’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” ^16:11The LORD’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction. ^16:12He 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 opposed to all of his brothers.” ^16:13She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” ^16:14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. ^16:15Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ^16:16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. ^17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. ^17:2I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” ^17:3Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, ^17:4“As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ^17:5Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ^17:6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. ^17:7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. ^17:8I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.” ^17:9God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ^17:10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ^17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. ^17:12He who is eight days old shall be circumcised 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 offspring. ^17:13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ^17:14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.” ^17:15God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. ^17:16I 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.” ^17:17Then 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?” ^17:18Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” ^17:19God 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 offspring after him. ^17:20As 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. ^17:21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” ^17:22When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ^17:23Abraham 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 circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him. ^17:24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^17:25Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^17:26In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. ^17:27All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. ^18:1The LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ^18:2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, ^18:3and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. ^18:4Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ^18:5I will get a piece 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.” ^18:6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” ^18:7Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. ^18:8He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate. ^18:9They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.” ^18:10He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. ^18:11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ^18:12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” ^18:13The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’ ^18:14Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.” ^18:15Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” ^18:16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. ^18:17The LORD said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, ^18:18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? ^18:19For 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 the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” ^18:20The LORD said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, ^18:21I 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.” ^18:22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. ^18:23Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? ^18:24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? ^18:25May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?” ^18:26The LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ^18:27Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. ^18:28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?” He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ^18:29He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.” ^18:30He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ^18:31He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.” ^18:32He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.” ^18:33The LORD went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.