B. C. 1921-1821.

CHAP. XIX.

said. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see 21 whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men 22 turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abrahamn stood yet before the LORD.

AND Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the 23 righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righte- 24 ous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifiy righteous that are therein? That be far from 25 thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And the 26 LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham 27 answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure 28 there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thon destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, 29 and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, 30 Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said. Behold now, I have taken 31 upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, 32 and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing 33 with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

AND there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat19 in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 'and he 2 said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise And they said, Nay; but we up early, and go on your ways. will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them 3 greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

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BUT before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him. 'and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold 7,8 now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is

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good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, 9 Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men 10 put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door 11 of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto 12 Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: for we will destroy this place, because the cry 13 of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake 14 unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.

AND when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, 15 saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And 16 while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when 17 they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thec, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said 18 unto them, Oh, not so, my lord: behold now, thy servant hath 19 found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: 20 oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, Sec, I have accepted thee 21 concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I 22 cannot do any thing till thon be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the 23 earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

THEN the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah 24 brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he over- 25 threw those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife 26 looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where 27 he stood before the LORD: and he looked toward Sodom and 28 Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of 29

the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

AND Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and 30 his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the first- 31 born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie 32 with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they 33 made their father drink wine that night: and the first-born went 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 morrow, 34 Gat the first-born said unto the younger, Behold, 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 their father drink wine that 35 night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus 36 were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And 37 the first-born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she 38 also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

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AND Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south20 com'r, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerir. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my 2 sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But 3 God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come 4 near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous hatea? Said he not upto 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 unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against ae: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now therefore 7 restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. Therc- 8 fore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their cars: and the men were sore afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I of fended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, 10 that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham said, Because I 11 thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my 12

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sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, 13 when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. And Abimelech took sheep, and oven, and men-servants, 14 and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is 15 before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. And unto Sarah he 16 said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. So Abraham 17 prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children. For the LORD had 18 fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

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AND the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did2. unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have Lorn him a son in his old age. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

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AND Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had 9 born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abra- 10 ham, Cast out this bond-woman and her son: for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of 11 his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in 12 thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bond-woman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the 13 bond-woman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And 14 Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away:

AND she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the 15 child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down 16 over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard 17 the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift 18

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the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of 19 water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and 20 dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt 21 in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

AND it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol 22 the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: now therefore swear unto me 23 here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's sou: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. And Abraham said, I will 24 swear. And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well 25 of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither 26 didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to-day. And 27 Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said 20 unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thon hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs 30 shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me,

at I have digged this well. Wherefore he called that place 31 Leer-sheba; because there they sware both of them. Thus they 22 male a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captam of his host, and they returned into the Iard of the Philistines.

And Abraham planted a grove in Boor-sheba, and called there 33 on the name of the LORD, the everlasting Cod. And Abraham 31 sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

AND it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt 22 Abraham, and said unto him, Abrahani: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son isene. 2 whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering uron one of the mountains which I will tell thee of And Abraham rose up early in the 3 morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burntoffering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his 4 eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his 5 young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham 6 took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham 7 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? And Abraham said, My son, God will 8