Genesis:15-18
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After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision ,
saying ,
Fear not ,
Abram :
I am thy shield ,
and thy exceeding great reward .
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And Abram said ,
Lord GOD ,
what wilt thou give me ,
seeing I go childless ,
and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus ?
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And Abram said ,
Behold ,
to me thou hast given no seed :
and ,
lo ,
one born in my house is mine heir .
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And ,
behold ,
the word of the LORD came unto him ,
saying ,
This shall not be thine heir ;
but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir .
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And he brought him forth abroad ,
and said ,
Look now toward heaven ,
and tell the stars ,
if thou be able to number them :
and he said unto him ,
So shall thy seed be .
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And he believed in the LORD ;
and he counted it to him for righteousness .
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And he said unto him ,
I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees ,
to give thee this land to inherit it .
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And he said ,
Lord GOD ,
whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ?
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And he said unto him ,
Take me an heifer of three years old ,
and a she goat of three years old ,
and a ram of three years old ,
and a turtledove ,
and a young pigeon .
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And he took unto him all these ,
and divided them in the midst ,
and laid each piece one against another :
but the birds divided he not .
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And when the fowls came down upon the carcases ,
Abram drove them away .
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And when the sun was going down ,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram ;
and ,
lo ,
an horror of great darkness fell upon him .
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And he said unto Abram ,
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs ,
and shall serve them ;
and they shall afflict them four hundred years ;
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And also that nation ,
whom they shall serve ,
will I judge :
and afterward shall they come out with great substance .
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And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age .
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But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again :
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full .
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And it came to pass ,
that ,
when the sun went down ,
and it was dark ,
behold a smoking furnace ,
and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces .
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In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram ,
saying ,
Unto thy seed have I given this land ,
from the river of Egypt unto the great river ,
the river Euphrates :
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The Kenites ,
and the Kenizzites ,
and the Kadmonites ,
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And the Hittites ,
and the Perizzites ,
and the Rephaims ,
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And the Amorites ,
and the Canaanites ,
and the Girgashites ,
and the Jebusites .
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Now Sarai Abram '
s wife bare him no children :
and she had an handmaid ,
an Egyptian ,
whose name was Hagar .
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And Sarai said unto Abram ,
Behold now ,
the LORD hath restrained me from bearing :
I pray thee ,
go in unto my maid ;
it may be that I may obtain children by her .
And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai .
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And Sarai Abram '
s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian ,
after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan ,
and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife .
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And he went in unto Hagar ,
and she conceived :
and when she saw that she had conceived ,
her mistress was despised in her eyes .
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And Sarai said unto Abram ,
My wrong be upon thee :
I have given my maid into thy bosom ;
and when she saw that she had conceived ,
I was despised in her eyes :
the LORD judge between me and thee .
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But Abram said unto Sarai ,
Behold ,
thy maid is in thy hand ;
do to her as it pleaseth thee .
And when Sarai dealt hardly with her ,
she fled from her face .
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And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness ,
by the fountain in the way to Shur .
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And he said ,
Hagar ,
Sarai '
s maid ,
whence camest thou ?
and whither wilt thou go ?
And she said ,
I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai .
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And the angel of the LORD said unto her ,
Return to thy mistress ,
and submit thyself under her hands .
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And the angel of the LORD said unto her ,
I will multiply thy seed exceedingly ,
that it shall not be numbered for multitude .
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And the angel of the LORD said unto her ,
Behold ,
thou art with child ,
and shalt bear a son ,
and shalt call his name Ishmael ;
because the LORD hath heard thy affliction .
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And he will be a wild man ;
his hand will be against every man ,
and every man '
s hand against him ;
and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren .
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And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her ,
Thou God seest me :
for she said ,
Have I also here looked after him that seeth me ?
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Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi ;
behold ,
it is between Kadesh and Bered .
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And Hagar bare Abram a son :
and Abram called his son '
s name ,
which Hagar bare ,
Ishmael .
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And Abram was fourscore and six years old ,
when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram .
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And when Abram was ninety years old and nine ,
the LORD appeared to Abram ,
and said unto him ,
I am the Almighty God ;
walk before me ,
and be thou perfect .
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And I will make my covenant between me and thee ,
and will multiply thee exceedingly .
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And Abram fell on his face :
and God talked with him ,
saying ,
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As for me ,
behold ,
my covenant is with thee ,
and thou shalt be a father of many nations .
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Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram ,
but thy name shall be Abraham ;
for a father of many nations have I made thee .
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And I will make thee exceeding fruitful ,
and I will make nations of thee ,
and kings shall come out of thee .
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And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant ,
to be a God unto thee ,
and to thy seed after thee .
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And I will give unto thee ,
and to thy seed after thee ,
the land wherein thou art a stranger ,
all the land of Canaan ,
for an everlasting possession ;
and I will be their God .
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And God said unto Abraham ,
Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore ,
thou ,
and thy seed after thee in their generations .
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This is my covenant ,
which ye shall keep ,
between me and you and thy seed after thee ;
Every man child among you shall be circumcised .
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And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ;
and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you .
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And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you ,
every man child in your generations ,
he that is born in the house ,
or bought with money of any stranger ,
which is not of thy seed .
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He that is born in thy house ,
and he that is bought with thy money ,
must needs be circumcised :
and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant .
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And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised ,
that soul shall be cut off from his people ;
he hath broken my covenant .
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And God said unto Abraham ,
As for Sarai thy wife ,
thou shalt not call her name Sarai ,
but Sarah shall her name be .
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And I will bless her ,
and give thee a son also of her :
yea ,
I will bless her ,
and she shall be a mother of nations ;
kings of people shall be of her .
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Then Abraham fell upon his face ,
and laughed ,
and said in his heart ,
Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old ?
and shall Sarah ,
that is ninety years old ,
bear ?
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And Abraham said unto God ,
O that Ishmael might live before thee !
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And God said ,
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed ;
and thou shalt call his name Isaac :
and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant ,
and with his seed after him .
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And as for Ishmael ,
I have heard thee :
Behold ,
I have blessed him ,
and will make him fruitful ,
and will multiply him exceedingly ;
twelve princes shall he beget ,
and I will make him a great nation .
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But my covenant will I establish with Isaac ,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year .
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And he left off talking with him ,
and God went up from Abraham .
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And Abraham took Ishmael his son ,
and all that were born in his house ,
and all that were bought with his money ,
every male among the men of Abraham '
s house ;
and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day ,
as God had said unto him .
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And Abraham was ninety years old and nine ,
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin .
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And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old ,
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin .
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In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised ,
and Ishmael his son .
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And all the men of his house ,
born in the house ,
and bought with money of the stranger ,
were circumcised with him .
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And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre :
and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day ;
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And he lift up his eyes and looked ,
and ,
lo ,
three men stood by him :
and when he saw them ,
he ran to meet them from the tent door ,
and bowed himself toward the ground ,
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And said ,
My Lord ,
if now I have found favour in thy sight ,
pass not away ,
I pray thee ,
from thy servant :
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Let a little water ,
I pray you ,
be fetched ,
and wash your feet ,
and rest yourselves under the tree :
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And I will fetch a morsel of bread ,
and comfort ye your hearts ;
after that ye shall pass on :
for therefore are ye come to your servant .
And they said ,
So do ,
as thou hast said .
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And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah ,
and said ,
Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal ,
knead it ,
and make cakes upon the hearth .
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And Abraham ran unto the herd ,
and fetcht a calf tender and good ,
and gave it unto a young man ;
and he hasted to dress it .
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And he took butter ,
and milk ,
and the calf which he had dressed ,
and set it before them ;
and he stood by them under the tree ,
and they did eat .
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And they said unto him ,
Where is Sarah thy wife ?
And he said ,
Behold ,
in the tent .
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And he said ,
I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life ;
and ,
lo ,
Sarah thy wife shall have a son .
And Sarah heard it in the tent door ,
which was behind him .
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Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age ;
and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women .
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Therefore Sarah laughed within herself ,
saying ,
After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure ,
my lord being old also ?
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And the LORD said unto Abraham ,
Wherefore did Sarah laugh ,
saying ,
Shall I of a surety bear a child ,
which am old ?
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Is any thing too hard for the LORD ?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee ,
according to the time of life ,
and Sarah shall have a son .
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Then Sarah denied ,
saying ,
I laughed not ;
for she was afraid .
And he said ,
Nay ;
but thou didst laugh .
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And the men rose up from thence ,
and looked toward Sodom :
and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way .
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And the LORD said ,
Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do ;
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Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation ,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him ?
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For I know him ,
that he will command his children and his household after him ,
and they shall keep the way of the LORD ,
to do justice and judgment ;
that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him .
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And the LORD said ,
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great ,
and because their sin is very grievous ;
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I will go down now ,
and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it ,
which is come unto me ;
and if not ,
I will know .
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And the men turned their faces from thence ,
and went toward Sodom :
but Abraham stood yet before the LORD .
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And Abraham drew near ,
and said ,
Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked ?
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Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city :
wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein ?
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That be far from 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 ?
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And the LORD said ,
If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city ,
then I will spare all the place for their sakes .
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And Abraham answered and said ,
Behold now ,
I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord ,
which am but dust and ashes :
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Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous :
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five ?
And he said ,
If I find there forty and five ,
I will not destroy it .
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And he spake unto him yet again ,
and said ,
Peradventure there shall be forty found there .
And he said ,
I will not do it for forty '
s sake .
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And he said unto him ,
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 .
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And he said ,
Behold now ,
I have taken 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 .
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And he said ,
Oh let not the Lord be angry ,
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 .
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And the LORD went his way ,
as soon as he had left communing with Abraham :
and Abraham returned unto his place .
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And there came two angels to Sodom at even ;
and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom :
and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them ;
and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground ;