Genesis 20:1--25:34
Abraham and Abimelech
20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident in Gerar,
20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.”
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, would you really slaughter an innocent nation?
20:5 Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.
20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified.
20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!”
20:10 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’
20:12 What’s more, she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife.
20:13 When God made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.
20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.”
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your ‘brother.’ This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.”
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
20:18 For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
The Birth of Isaac
21:1 The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.
21:2 So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.
21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac.
21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.
21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
21:7 She went on to say, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
21:9 But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking.
21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son.
21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.
21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.
21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.
21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying.
21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.
21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you.”
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.”
21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.
21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty.
21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves.
21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”
21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well.”
21:31 That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines.
21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God.
21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.
The Sacrifice of Isaac
22:1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied.
22:2 God said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance.
22:5 So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together.
22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
22:8 “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son.
22:11 But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.
22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven
22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
22:17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.
22:18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed.
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor –
22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”
22:23 (Now Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
The Death of Sarah
23:1 Sarah lived 127 years.
23:2 Then she died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and said to the sons of Heth,
23:4 “I am a temporary settler among you. Grant me ownership of a burial site among you so that I may bury my dead.”
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham,
23:6 “Listen, sir, you are a mighty prince among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead.”
23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, the sons of Heth.
23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree that I may bury my dead, then hear me out. Ask Ephron the son of Zohar
23:9 if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site.”
23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate of his city –
23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell you both the field and the cave that is in it. In the presence of my people I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”
23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people
23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay to you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”
23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and weighed out for him the price that Ephron had quoted in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.
23:17 So Abraham secured Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border,
23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city.
23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site from the sons of Heth.
The Wife for Isaac
24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.
24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh
24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.
24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
24:6 “Be careful never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him.
24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.
24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”
24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes.
24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor.
24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was evening, the time when the women would go out to draw water.
24:12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. Be faithful to my master Abraham.
24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water.
24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.”
24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor).
24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.
24:17 Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.”
24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.
24:19 When she had done so, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.”
24:20 She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels.
24:21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the Lord had made his journey successful or not.
24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her.
24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.
24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, “and room for you to spend the night.”
24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord,
24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!”
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about these things.
24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.
24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring.
24:31 Laban said to him, “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! Why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”
24:32 So Abraham’s servant went to the house and unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet.
24:33 When food was served, he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” “Tell us,” Laban said.
24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.
24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns.
24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,
24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find a wife for my son.’
24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go with me?’
24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.
24:41 You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’
24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, may events unfold as follows:
24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. When the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.”
24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.
24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.
24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.”
24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing. Our wishes are of no concern.
24:51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”
24:52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.
24:53 Then he brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.
24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”
24:55 But Rebekah’s brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.”
24:56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master.”
24:57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”
24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.
24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:
“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.”
24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with the man. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah and left.
24:62 Now Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.
24:63 He went out to relax in the field in the early evening. Then he looked up and saw that there were camels approaching.
24:64 Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel
24:65 and asked Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. So she took her veil and covered herself.
24:66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.
24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her as his wife and loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
The Death of Abraham
25:1 Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah.
25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.
25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac.
25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac.
25:7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years.
25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors.
25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite.
25:10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
The Sons of Ishmael
25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
25:13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes according to their clans.
25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors.
25:18 His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.
Jacob and Esau
25:19 This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac.
25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
25:22 But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” So she asked the Lord,
25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
25:25 The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau.
25:26 When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.
25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.
25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?”
25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 8:9-12
8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered
the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah
in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove,
and brought it back into the ark.
8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.
8:11 When
the dove returned to him in the evening, there was
a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again,
but it did not return to him this time.
Revelation 13:11-13
13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon.
13:12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed.
13:13 He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people