VayeraAnd he appeared

1Reading 1 Genesis 18:1–14Chapter page with footnotes →

The Three Visitors

^18:1And the LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre, as he was sitting at the opening of the tent in the heat of the day. ²And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing over against him; and he saw, and ran to meet them from the opening of the tent, and bowed himself to the earth,

³and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, do not now pass on from over your servant. ⁴Let now a little water be taken, and wash your feet, and recline under the tree. ⁵And let me take a piece of bread, and sustain your heart; afterward you may pass on; for therefore you have passed by to your servant." And they said, "So do, as you have spoken."

⁶And Abraham hastened to the tent unto Sarah, and said, "Hurry, three measures of meal, fine flour; knead, and make cakes."

⁷And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a son of the herd, tender and good, and gave it to the young man, and he hastened to prepare it. ⁸And he took curd and milk, and the son of the herd which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree, and they ate.

Sarah Laughs at the Promise

⁹And they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Behold, in the tent."

¹⁰And he said, "Returning I will return to you about the time of life, and behold, a son shall be to Sarah your wife." And Sarah was listening at the opening of the tent, and it was behind him. ¹¹And Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in days; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹²And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old shall I have pleasure, and my lord is old?"

¹³And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear, and I am old?' ¹⁴Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the appointed time (mo-ed) I will return to you, about the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."

2Reading 2 Genesis 18:15–33Chapter page with footnotes →

^18:15And Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And he said, "No, but you did laugh."

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

¹⁶And the men rose up from there, and looked down upon the face of Sodom; and Abraham was going with them to send them away.

¹⁷And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? ¹⁹For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his house after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and judgment; so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken concerning him."

²⁰And the LORD said, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah — indeed it is great, and their sin — indeed it is exceedingly heavy, ²¹let me go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to its cry which has come to me; and if not, I will know."

²²And the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham was still standing before the LORD.

²³And Abraham drew near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city; will you indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are within it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do according to this thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?"

²⁶And the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sake."

²⁷And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, and I am dust and ashes. ²⁸Perhaps the fifty righteous will lack five; will you destroy all the city for five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find there forty-five."

²⁹And he continued yet again to speak to him, and said, "Perhaps forty will be found there." And he said, "I will not do it for the sake of the forty."

³⁰And he said, "Let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. Perhaps thirty will be found there." And he said, "I will not do it if I find there thirty."

³¹And he said, "Behold now, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord. Perhaps twenty will be found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."

³²And he said, "Let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak only this once. Perhaps ten will be found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."

³³And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

3Reading 3 Genesis 19:1–20Chapter page with footnotes →

Lot Welcomes the Angels

^19:1And the two messengers came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw, and rose up to meet them, and bowed himself, his face to the earth. ²and said, "Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray, to the house of your servant, and lodge, and wash your feet; and you shall rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will lodge in the street."

³And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned aside to him and came into his house; and he made for them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter. ⁵And they called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."

⁶And Lot went out to them to the opening, and shut the door after him. ⁷And he said, "Do not, I pray, my brothers, do wickedly. ⁸Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as is good in your eyes; only to these men do nothing, for therefore they have come under the shadow of my roof."

⁹And they said, "Stand back!" And they said, "This one came in to sojourn, and he would indeed judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." And they pressed hard against the man, against Lot, and drew near to break the door.

¹⁰And the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot to them into the house, and shut the door. ¹¹And the men who were at the opening of the house they struck with blindness, from small to great, so that they wearied themselves to find the opening.

Lot Flees to Zoar

¹²And the men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city — bring them out from the place, ¹³for we are destroying this place, because their cry has become great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."

¹⁴And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to take his daughters, and said, "Arise, go out from this place, for the LORD is destroying the city." But he was as one who jested in the eyes of his sons-in-law.

¹⁵And as the dawn arose, the messengers urged Lot, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are found here, lest you be swept away in the iniquity of the city." ¹⁶And he lingered; and the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, in the compassion of the LORD upon him; and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

¹⁷And it came to pass, when they had brought them out abroad, that he said, "Escape for your soul; do not look behind you, and do not stand in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away."

¹⁸And Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my Lord; ¹⁹behold now, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have magnified your kindness which you have done with me, to keep my soul alive; but I am not able to escape to the mountain, lest the evil cling to me, and I die. ²⁰Behold now, this city is near to flee there, and it is a little one; let me escape there — is it not a little one? — and my soul shall live."

4Reading 4 Genesis 19:21–21:4Chapter page with footnotes →

^19:21And he said to him, "Behold, I have lifted up your face also for this thing, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ²²Hurry, escape there, for I am not able to do anything ad(עד) you come there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³The sun had gone out over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

²⁴And the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the LORD, from the heavens. ²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the growth of the ground.

²⁶And his wife looked from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the face of the LORD. ²⁸And he looked down upon the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon all the face of the land of the plain, and saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out from the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in the cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹And the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man in the earth to come in to us according to the way of all the earth. ³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, that we may keep alive seed from our father."

³³And they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴And it came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine this night also, and go in, lie with him, that we may keep alive seed from our father."

³⁵And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶And the two daughters of Lot conceived from their father. ³⁷And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of Moab unto this day. ³⁸And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon unto this day.

Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech

^20:1And Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar. ²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

³And God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is married to a husband."

⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "my Lord, will you slay even a righteous nation? ⁵Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? and she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands I have done this."

⁶And God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I myself know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me; therefore I did not allow you to touch her. ⁷And now, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live; but if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours."

⁸And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men feared greatly.

⁹And Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? and in what have I sinned against you, that you have brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? Deeds that ought not to be done you have done to me." ¹⁰And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you have done this thing?"

¹¹And Abraham said, "Because I said, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay me for the sake of my wife.' ¹²And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from the house of my father, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness which you shall do for me: at every place where we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"

¹⁴And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored to him Sarah his wife. ¹⁵And Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it is good in your eyes." ¹⁶And to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given a thousand of silver to your brother; behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all who are with you; and with all you are vindicated."

¹⁷And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bore children. ¹⁸For the LORD had fast closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

The Birth of Isaac

^21:1And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken. ²And Sarah conceived and bore to Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time (mo-ed) of which God had spoken to him.

³And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

5Reading 5 Genesis 21:5–21Chapter page with footnotes →

^21:5And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh for me." ⁷And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham, 'Sarah shall suckle children'? for I have borne a son in his old age."

⁸And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰And she said to Abraham, "Cast out this maidservant and her son; for the son of this maidservant shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac."

¹¹And the thing was very grievous in the eyes of Abraham, on account of his son. ¹²And God said to Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in your eyes because of the lad, and because of your maidservant; in all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac shall seed be called to you. ¹³And also the son of the maidservant I will make into a nation, because he is your seed."

¹⁴And Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵And the water was spent from the skin, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶And she went and sat down opposite him, at a distance, about a bowshot away; for she said, "Let me not look on the death of the child." And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the lad; and the messenger of God called to Hagar out of the heavens, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him into a great nation." ¹⁹And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad drink.

²⁰And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. ²¹And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.

6Reading 6 Genesis 21:22–34Chapter page with footnotes →

The Covenant at Beersheba

^21:22And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his host spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. ²³And now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my offspring, nor with my posterity; according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have sojourned."

²⁴And Abraham said, "I will swear."

²⁵And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized. ²⁶And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; and also you did not tell me, and also I have not heard of it except today."

²⁷And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and the two of them cut a covenant. ²⁸And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What are these seven ewe-lambs which you have set by themselves?"

³⁰And he said, "For these seven ewe-lambs you shall take from my hand, that it may be for me a witness that I have dug this well." ³¹Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore. ³²So they cut a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³And he planted a tamarisk in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

7Reading 7 Genesis 22:1–24Chapter page with footnotes →

The Offering of Isaac

^22:1And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham"; and he said, "Here am I."

²And he said, "Take now your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go for yourself to the land of Moriah; and offer him up there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you."

³And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place which God had told him.

⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar. ⁵And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and return to you."

⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and the two of them went together.

⁷And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father." And he said, "Here am I, my son." And he said, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

⁸And Abraham said, "God will see for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together.

⁹And they came to the place which God had told him; and Abraham built there the altar, and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The LORD Provides the Sacrifice

¹¹And the messenger of the LORD called to him out of the heavens, and said, "Abraham, Abraham." And he said, "Here am I."

¹²And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you are a fearer of God, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me."

¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place "The LORD will see," as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."

¹⁵And the messenger of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of the heavens, ¹⁶and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only one, ¹⁷that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the shore of the sea; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have listened to my voice."

¹⁹And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Sons of Nahor

²⁰And it came to pass after these things, that it was told to Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to Nahor your brother: ²¹Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram; ²²and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

²³And Bethuel begot Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

P2 Kings 4:1–37Chapter page with footnotes →

The Widow’s Oil

^4:1And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant was one who feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children for himself to be servants."

²And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."

³And he said, "Go, ask for yourself vessels from outside, from all your neighbors, empty vessels; do not get few. ⁴And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and behind your sons, and pour out into all these vessels; and the full one you shall set aside."

⁵And she went from him and shut the door behind her and behind her sons; they were bringing to her, and she was pouring out. ⁶And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me yet a vessel." And he said to her, "There is not a vessel more." And the oil stopped.

⁷And she came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons shall live on what is left."

The Shunammite Woman

⁸And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed over to Shunem, and there was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.

⁹And she said to her husband, "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually. ¹⁰Let us make, please, a little upper chamber on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there."

¹¹And it came to pass on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the upper chamber and lay there. ¹²And he said to Gehazi his lad, "Call this Shunammite." And he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³And he said to him, "Say now to her, 'Behold, you have been anxious for us with all this anxiety; what is to be done for you? Is there a word to speak for you to the king or to the captain of the army?'" And she said, "I am dwelling among my own people."

¹⁴And he said, "What then is to be done for her?" And Gehazi said, "Truly she has no son, and her husband is old."

¹⁵And he said, "Call her." And he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶And he said, "At this appointed time (mo-ed), about the time of life, you shall embrace a son." And she said, "No, my lord, man of God, do not lie to your maidservant."

¹⁷And the woman conceived and bore a son at this appointed time (mo-ed), about the time of life, as Elisha had said to her.

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

¹⁸And the child grew, and it came to pass on a day, that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

¹⁹And he said to his father, "My head, my head!" And he said to the lad, "Carry him to his mother."

²⁰And he carried him and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees until noon, and then he died. ²¹And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door behind him, and went out.

²²And she called to her husband and said, "Send to me, please, one of the lads and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and return."

²³And he said, "Why are you going to him today? It is neither new moon nor Shabbat." And she said, "It is well."

²⁴And she saddled the donkey and said to her lad, "Drive and go; do not hold back the riding for me unless I tell you." ²⁵And she went and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her from afar, that he said to Gehazi his lad, "Behold, that Shunammite! ²⁶Now run, please, to meet her, and say to her, 'Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?'" And she said, "It is well."

²⁷And she came to the man of God, to the hill, and caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away, but the man of God said, "Let her alone, for her soul is bitter within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me."

²⁸And she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me'?"

²⁹And he said to Gehazi, "Gird your loins and take my staff in your hand and go; if you meet a man, do not bless him, and if a man blesses you, do not answer him; and you shall lay my staff upon the face of the lad."

³⁰And the mother of the lad said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." And he arose and went after her.

³¹And Gehazi passed over before them and laid the staff upon the face of the lad, but there was no voice and no attention. And he returned to meet him and told him, saying, "The lad has not awakened."

³²And Elisha came into the house, and behold, the lad was dead, laid upon his bed. ³³And he went in and shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.

³⁴And he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his palms upon his palms; and he stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child grew warm. ³⁵And he returned and walked in the house, once here and once there, and he went up and stretched himself upon him; and the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes.

³⁶And he called to Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite." And he called her, and she came to him, and he said, "Take up your son."

³⁷And she came and fell at his feet and bowed down to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.

AHebrews 11:17–19Chapter page with footnotes →

^11:17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son, ¹⁸of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." ¹⁹He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

A2 Peter 2:4–10Chapter page with footnotes →

^2:4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into Tartarus and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; ⁵and if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would afterward live ungodly; ⁷and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the lawless ones — ⁸for that righteous man, dwelling among them day after day, was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard — ⁹then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

¹⁰and especially those who indulge in the desire of defiling passion and despise authority — bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,