made war with Bera, the king of Sodom, and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah, Shinab, the king of Admah, and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that [is], Zoar).

In the fourteenth year Kedorlaomer and the kings who [were] with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim,

And the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is at the wilderness.

Then they turned back and came to En-Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh). And they defeated the whole territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar.

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that [is], Zoar) went out, and {they took up battle position} in the Valley of Siddim

with Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

Now the Valley of Siddim {was full of tar pits}. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and {fell into them}, but the rest fled to the mountains.

So they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and they left.

And they took Lot, the son of the brother of Abram, and his possessions, and left. (Now he had been living in Sodom.)

Then one who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. And he was living at the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. {They were allies with Abram}.

When Abram heard that his {relative} was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen [of them], and he went in pursuit up to Dan.

And he divided [his trained men] against them at night, he and his servants. And he defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, which [is] north of Damascus.

And he brought back all the possessions. And he also brought back Lot, his {relative}, and his possessions, and the women and the people as well.

After his return from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who [were] with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that [is], the Valley of the King).

And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).

And he blessed him and said, "Blessed [be] Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.

And blessed [be] God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave to him a tenth of everything.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but the possessions take for yourself."

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth,

{Nothing besides what} the servants have eaten and the share of the men who went out with me [will I take.] Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying: "Do not be afraid, Abram; I [am] your shield, [and] your reward [shall be] very great."

Then Abram said, "O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? {I continue to be} childless, and {my heir} is Eliezer of Damascus."

And Abram said, "Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, {a member of my household} [is] {my heir}."

And behold, the word of Yahweh [came] to him saying, "This [person] will not {be your heir}, but {your own son will be your heir}."

And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him [as] righteousness.

And he said to him, "I [am] Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it."

And he said, "O Yahweh God, how shall I know [that] I will possess it?"

And he said to him, "Take for me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove and a young pigeon."

And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite {the other}, but the birds he did not cut.

And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

And it happened, as the sun {went down}, then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him.

And he said to Abram, "{You must surely know} that your descendants shall be [as] aliens in a land {not their own}. And they shall serve them and they shall oppress them four hundred years.

And also the nation that they serve I will judge. Then afterward they shall go out with great possessions.

And [as for] you, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites {is not yet complete}."

And after the sun had gone down and it [was] dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces.

the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name [was] Hagar.

And Sarai said to Abram, "Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps {I will have children by her}." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Then Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And [when] she saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes.

And Sarai said to Abram, "may my harm [be] upon you. {I had my servant sleep with you}, and [when] she saw that she had conceived, {she no longer respected me}. May Yahweh judge between me and you!"

And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant [is] {under your authority}. Do to her that which [is] good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence.

And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur.

And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, "{From where} have you come, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress."

Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit yourself under {her authority}."

And the angel of Yahweh said to her, "{I will greatly multiply} your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for [their] abundance."

And the angel of Yahweh said to her: "Behold, you are pregnant and shall have a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael, for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.

And he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand [will be] against everyone, and the hand of everyone [will be] against him, and he will live {in hostility with all his brothers}."

Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it [is] between Kadesh and Bered.

And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael.

And Abram [was] eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

When Abram [was] ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I [am] El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless

so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you {exceedingly}."

Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying,

"[As for] me, behold, my covenant [shall be] with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

And I will make you {exceedingly} fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you.

And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you.

And I will give to you and to your offspring after you {the land in which you are living as an alien}, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

And God said to Abraham, "Now [as for] you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations.

This [is] my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and [also] with your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.

{You must certainly circumcise} {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner}. And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

And [as for any] uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.

And God said to Abraham, "[as for] Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [shall be] her name.

And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and {she shall give rise to nations}. Kings of peoples shall come from her."

And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, "{Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old}, or {can Sarah bear a child at ninety}?"

And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"

And God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him.

And [as for] Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him {exceedingly}. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

When he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all [those] acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him.

And Ishmael his son [was] thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.

Abraham and his son Ishmael [were] circumcised on the same day.

And all the men of his house, {those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner}, were circumcised with him.

And Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he was sitting in the doorway of the tent at the heat of the day.

And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing near him. And he saw [them] and ran from the doorway of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the ground.

And he said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes do not pass by your servant.

Let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest under the tree.

And let me bring a piece of bread, then refresh {yourselves}. Afterward you can pass on, {once} you have passed by with your servant." Then they said, "Do so as you have said."

Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and he said, "Quickly--make three seahs of fine flour for kneading and make bread cakes!"

And Abraham ran to the cattle and took a {calf}, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he made haste to prepare it.

Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set [it] before them. And he was standing by them under the tree while they ate.

And they said to him, "Where [is] Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Here, in the tent."

And he said, "I will certainly return to you {in the spring}, and look, Sarah your wife [will have] a son." Now Sarah [was] listening at the doorway of the tent, and which [was] behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old, {advanced in age}; {the way of women} had ceased to be for Sarah.

So Sarah laughed to herself saying, "After I am worn out and my husband is old, shall [this] pleasure be to me?"

Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you {in the spring} and Sarah [shall have] a son."

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down upon Sodom. And Abraham went with them {to send them on their way}.

Abraham will surely become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed on account of him.

For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him."

Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah [is] great and because their sin [is] very {serious},

I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress [which] has come to me? If not, I will know."

And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham [was] still standing before Yahweh.

And Abraham drew near [to Yahweh] and said, "Will you also sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

If perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city, will you also sweep [them] away and not forgive the place on account of the fifty righteous in her midst?

And Yahweh said, "If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, in the midst of the city, then I will forgive the whole place for their sake."

Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I [am] dust and ashes.