We are doing a series of the first 5 books of the old testament. The Torah. It is for people all over the world that cannot get to a bible and it makes it easier to read.
Genesis chapter 14
14:1 At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim,
14:2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
14:3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley).
14:4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim
14:6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert.
14:7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.
14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim
14:9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasarfour kings against five.
14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.
14:11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.
14:12 They also carried off Abrams nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.
14:13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.
14:14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
14:15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
14:16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
14:17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Kings Valley).
14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
14:19 and he blessed Abram, saying, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
14:20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.
14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
14:23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, I made Abram rich.
14:24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with meto Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.
Genesis chapter 15
15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.
15:2 But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?
15:3 And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.
15:4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.
15:5 He took him outside and said, Look up at the sky and count the starsif indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.
15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
15:7 He also said to him, I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.
15:8 But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?
15:9 So the Lord said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.
15:10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.
15:11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
15:12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
15:13 Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
15:14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15:15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.
15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
15:17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
15:18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates
15:19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.
Genesis chapter 16
16:1 Now Sarai, Abrams wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;
16:2 so she said to Abram, The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her. Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
16:3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
16:4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.
16:6 Your slave is in your hands, Abram said. Do with her whatever you think best. Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
16:7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
16:8 And he said, Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going? Im running away from my mistress Sarai, she answered.
16:9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, Go back to your mistress and submit to her.
16:10 The angel added, I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.
16:11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyones hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.
16:13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: You are the God who sees me, for she said, I have now seen the One who sees me.
16:14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
16:15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Genesis chapter 17
17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
17:2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.
17:3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
17:4 As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
17:5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
17:6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
17:7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
17:8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
17:10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
17:12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreignerthose who are not your offspring.
17:13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
17:14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.
17:15 God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
17:16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.
17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?
17:18 And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!
17:19 Then God said, Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
17:21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.
17:22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.
17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
17:25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen;
17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.
17:27 And every male in Abrahams household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
Genesis chapter 18
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
18:3 He said, If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.
18:4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
18:5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your waynow that you have come to your servant. Very well, they answered, do as you say.
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.
18:7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
18:8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
18:9 Where is your wife Sarah? they asked him. There, in the tent, he said.
18:10 Then one of them said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
18:11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?
18:13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child, now that I am old?
18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
18:15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, I did not laugh. But he said, Yes, you did laugh.
18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
18:17 Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
18:18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.
18:20 Then the Lord said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
18:21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.
18:22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
18:23 Then Abraham approached him and said: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
18:24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thingto kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?
18:26 The Lord said, If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
18:27 Then Abraham spoke up again: Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
18:28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people? If I find forty-five there, he said, I will not destroy it.
18:29 Once again he spoke to him, What if only forty are found there? He said, For the sake of forty, I will not do it.
18:30 Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there? He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
18:31 Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there? He said, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.
18:32 Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there? He answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.
18:33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Genesis chapter 19
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
19:2 My lords, he said, please turn aside to your servants house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning. No, they answered, we will spend the night in the square.
19:3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodomboth young and oldsurrounded the house.
19:5 They called to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.
19:6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
19:7 and said, No, my friends. Dont do this wicked thing.
19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But dont do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.
19:9 Get out of our way, they replied. This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! Well treat you worse than them. They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
19:10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.
19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
19:12 The two men said to Lot, Do you have anyone else heresons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,
19:13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.
19:14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city! But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
19:15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.
19:16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
19:17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, Flee for your lives! Dont look back, and dont stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!
19:18 But Lot said to them, No, my lords, please!
19:19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I cant flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and Ill die.
19:20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to itit is very small, isnt it? Then my life will be spared.
19:21 He said to him, Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
19:22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it. (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
19:23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.
19:24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrahfrom the Lord out of the heavens.
19:25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the citiesand also the vegetation in the land.
19:26 But Lots wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
19:27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
19:28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
19:29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
19:30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.
19:31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us childrenas is the custom all over the earth.
19:32 Lets get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.
19:33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
19:34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, Last night I slept with my father. Lets get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.
19:35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
19:36 So both of Lots daughters became pregnant by their father.
19:37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.
19:38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Genesis chapter 20
20:1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,
20:2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, She is my sister. Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.
20:4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
20:5 Did he not say to me, She is my sister, and didnt she also say, He is my brother? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.
20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
20:7 Now return the mans wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.
20:8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.
20:9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.
20:10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, What was your reason for doing this?
20:11 Abraham replied, I said to myself, There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.
20:12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.
20:13 And when God had me wander from my fathers household, I said to her, This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, He is my brother.
20:14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.
20:15 And Abimelek said, My land is before you; live wherever you like.
20:16 To Sarah he said, I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.
20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,
20:18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimeleks household from conceiving because of Abrahams wife Sarah.
Genesis chapter 21
21:1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.
21:2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
21:3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.
21:5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
21:6 Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.
21:7 And she added, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.
21:8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
21:9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,
21:10 and she said to Abraham, Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that womans son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.
21:11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
21:12 But God said to him, Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
21:13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.
21:14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
21:16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, I cannot watch the boy die. And as she sat there, she began to sob.
21:17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
21:18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.
21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.
21:21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
21:22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, God is with you in everything you do.
21:23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.
21:24 Abraham said, I swear it.
21:25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimeleks servants had seized.
21:26 But Abimelek said, I dont know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.
21:27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.
21:28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
21:29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?
21:30 He replied, Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.
21:31 So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.
21:32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.
21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
21:34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Genesis chapter 22
22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, Abraham! Here I am, he replied.
22:2 Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you loveIsaacand go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.
22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
22:5 He said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
22:7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, Father? Yes, my son? Abraham replied. The fire and wood are here, Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
22:8 Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together.
22:9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
22:10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
22:11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham! Abraham! Here I am, he replied.
22:12 Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.
22:13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
22:14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.
22:15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
22:16 and said, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
22:17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
22:18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
22:20 Some time later Abraham was told, Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
22:21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.
22:23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abrahams brother Nahor.
22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Genesis chapter 23
23:1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.
23:2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
23:3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said,
23:4 I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.
23:5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
23:6 Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.
23:7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
23:8 He said to them, If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf
23:9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.
23:10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
23:11 No, my lord, he said. Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.
23:12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land
23:13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham,
23:15 Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.
23:16 Abraham agreed to Ephrons terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
23:17 So Ephrons field in Machpelah near Mamreboth the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the fieldwas deeded
23:18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.
23:19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
23:20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Genesis chapter 24
24:1 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.
24:2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, Put your hand under my thigh.
24:3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,
24:4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.
24:5 The servant asked him, What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?
24:6 Make sure that you do not take my son back there, Abraham said.
24:7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my fathers household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, To your offspring I will give this landhe will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.
24:8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.
24:9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
24:10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his masters camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor.
24:11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
24:12 Then he prayed, Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
24:13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.
24:14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, Please let down your jar that I may have a drink, and she says, Drink, and Ill water your camels toolet her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.
24:15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abrahams brother Nahor.
24:16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
24:17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, Please give me a little water from your jar.
24:18 Drink, my lord, she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
24:19 After she had given him a drink, she said, Ill draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.
24:20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.
24:21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
24:22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.
24:23 Then he asked, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your fathers house for us to spend the night?
24:24 She answered him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.
24:25 And she added, We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.
24:26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord,
24:27 saying, Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my masters relatives.
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mothers household about these things.
24:29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring.
24:30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sisters arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.
24:31 Come, you who are blessed by the Lord, he said. Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.
24:32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet.
24:33 Then food was set before him, but he said, I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say. Then tell us, Laban said.
24:34 So he said, I am Abrahams servant.
24:35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
24:36 My masters wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.
24:37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,
24:38 but go to my fathers family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.
24:39 Then I asked my master, What if the woman will not come back with me?
24:40 He replied, The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my fathers family.
24:41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to youthen you will be released from my oath.
24:42 When I came to the spring today, I said, Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.
24:43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, Please let me drink a little water from your jar,
24:44 and if she says to me, Drink, and Ill draw water for your camels too, let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my masters son.
24:45 Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, Please give me a drink.
24:46 She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, Drink, and Ill water your camels too. So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
24:47 I asked her, Whose daughter are you? She said, The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him. Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,
24:48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my masters brother for his son.
24:49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.
24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered, This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.
24:51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your masters son, as the Lord has directed.
24:52 When Abrahams servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.
24:53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother.
24:54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, Send me on my way to my master.
24:55 But her brother and her mother replied, Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.
24:56 But he said to them, Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.
24:57 Then they said, Lets call the young woman and ask her about it.
24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, Will you go with this man? I will go, she said.
24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abrahams servant and his men.
24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.
24:61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
24:62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.
24:63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.
24:64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel
24:65 and asked the servant, Who is that man in the field coming to meet us? He is my master, the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
24:66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.
24:67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mothers death.
Genesis chapter 25
25:1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.
25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.
25:3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.
25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
25:6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
25:7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.
25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,
25:10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
25:11 After Abrahams death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
25:12 This is the account of the family line of Abrahams son Ishmael, whom Sarahs slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
25:16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.
25:17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.
25:18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
25:19 This is the account of the family line of Abrahams son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,
25:20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah 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 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord.
25:23 The Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
25:24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
25:25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.
25:26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esaus heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
25:27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.
25:28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.
25:30 He said to Jacob, Quick, let me have some of that red stew! Im famished! (That is why he was also called Edom.)
25:31 Jacob replied, First sell me your birthright.
25:32 Look, I am about to die, Esau said. What good is the birthright to me?
25:33 But Jacob said, Swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.
Closing Prayer; Heavenly Father help us to live our lives how you want us to. Help us to abide by the plan you have for us in all our words and actions. We pray that your name is lifted high. We praise you as our king and high priest, in Jesus name Amen.
Prayer of Salvation: Which is how you ask to become a child of Our Heavenly Father. Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and I know you will answer my prayers. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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