Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Yesterday we heard about the first part of the life of Abraham who was born Abraham and
the promise that God made with him and his descendants and how he began to settle in
the land of Canaan and today we're going to hear about the life of his son Ishmael.
Alright, let's begin.
Today's reading is from Genesis chapters 16 to 20.
Let's begin.
Chapter 16 Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, had borne him no
children and she had an Egyptian maid servant whose name was Hagar.
So Sarai said to Abraham, See now the Lord has restrained me from bearing children.
Please go into my maid.
Perhaps I shall obtain children by her.
And Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai.
Then Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband
Abraham to be his wife, after Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
So he went in to Hagar and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived her
mistress became despised in her eyes.
Then Sarai said to Abraham, My wrong be upon you.
I gave my maid into your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived I became despised
in her eyes.
The Lord judged between you and me.
So Abraham said to Sarai, Indeed your maid is in your hand.
Do to her as you please.
And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring
on the way to shore.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid.
Where have you come from, and where are you going?
She said, I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.
The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit yourself under
her hand.
Then the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly,
so that they shall not be counted for multitude.
And the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold you are with child, and you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He shall be a wild man.
His hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell
in the presence of all his brethren.
When she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, you are the God who sees.
For she said, Have I also here seen him who sees me?
Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roy.
Observe it is between Kaddish and Bered.
So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore Ishmael.
Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Chapter 17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared
to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless, and I will
make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.
Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him saying, As for me, behold, my covenant
is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have
made you a father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall
come from you, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after
you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants
after you.
Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.
And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants
after you, throughout their generations.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after
you.
Every male child among you shall be circumcised, and you shall be circumcised in the flesh
of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
He who is eight years old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations.
He who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised,
and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
When the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
that person shall be cut off from his people, he has broken my covenant.
Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but
Sarah shall be her name, and I will bless her and also give you a son by her, then I
will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples shall be from
her.
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born
to a man who is one hundred years old?
And shall Sarah who is ninety years old bear a child?
And Abraham said to God, O that Ishmael might live before you.
Then God said, No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.
I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants
after him, and as for Ishmael I have heard you, behold I have blessed him, and will make
him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation, but my covenant I
will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.
Then he finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought
with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh
of the foreskins that very same day as God had said to him.
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
and Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin.
That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael, and all the men of his
house, born in the house, or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Then the Lord appeared to him by the turbaned trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent
door in the heat of the day.
So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him, and when he
saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground and
said, My Lord, if I have now found favor in your sight, do not pass on by your servant.
Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
and I will bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh your hearts.
After that you may pass by inasmuch as you have come to your servant.
They said, Do as you have said.
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, Quickly, make ready three measures
of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.
And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender good calf, gave it to a young man, and he
hastened to prepare it.
So he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them, and
he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
Then they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife?
So he said, Here in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold,
Sarah your wife shall have a son.
Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure,
my lord being old also?
And the lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely bear a child
since I am old?
Is anything too hard for the lord?
At the appointed time, I will return to you according to the time of life, and Sarah shall
have a son.
But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid.
And he said, No, but you did laugh.
And the men rose from there, and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send
them on the way.
And the lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
in him?
For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after
him, that they keep the way of the lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the lord
may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him.
And the lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their
sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according
to the outcry against it that has come to me, and if not I will know.
Then the men turned away from there, and went toward Sodom.
But Abraham still stood before the lord, and Abraham came near and said, Would you also
destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city, would you also destroy the place
and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so
that the righteous should be as the wicked.
Far be it from you.
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?
So the lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare
all the place for their sakes.
Then Abraham answered and said, Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes, have taken upon
myself to speak to the lord.
Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous, would you destroy all the city
for a lack of five?
So he said, If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.
And he spoke to him yet again and said, Suppose there should be forty found there.
So he said, I will not do it for the sake of forty.
Then he said, Let not the lord be angry and I will speak.
Suppose thirty should be found there.
So he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
And he said, Indeed now, I have taken upon myself to speak to the lord.
Suppose twenty should be found there.
So he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
Then he said, Let not the lord be angry and I will speak but once more.
Suppose ten should be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.
So the lord went his way as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham
returned to his place.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.
When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the
ground.
And he said, Here now, my lords, please turn into your servant's house and spend the night,
and wash your feet.
Then you may rise early and go on your way.
And they said, No, but we will spend the night in the open square.
But he insisted strongly.
So they turned into him and entered his house.
Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all
the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
And they called to Lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight?
Bring them out to us, that we may know them carnally.
So Lot went out to them, threw the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, Please,
my brethren, do not do so wickedly.
See now I have two daughters who have not known a man.
Please let me bring them out to you and you may do to them as you wish.
Only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow
of my roof.
And they said, Stand back.
Then they said, This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge.
Now we will deal worse with you than with them.
So they pressed hard against the man Lot and came near to break down the door.
But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them and shut the
door.
And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and
great, so that they became wary trying to find the door.
Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here?
Son in law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, take them out
of this place, for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown
great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons in law, who had married his daughters, and said, Get
up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city.
But to his sons in law he seemed to be joking.
When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife
and your two daughters, who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.
And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands
of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him
outside the city.
So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for your
life, do not look behind you, nor stay anywhere in the plain, escape to the mountains, lest
you be destroyed.
Then Lot said to them, Please know, my lords, indeed now your servant has found favor in
your sight, and you have increased your mercy, which you have shown me, by saving my life,
but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me, and I die.
See now this city is near enough to flee to, and is a little one, please let me escape
there, and my soul shall live.
And he said to him, See I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will
not overthrow this city for which you have spoken, hurry, escape there, for I cannot
do anything until you arrive there.
Therefore the name of the city was called Zohar.
The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zohar.
Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the
heavens.
So he overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what
grew on the ground.
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and he saw
and behold the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham,
and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot
had dwelt.
Then Lot went up out of Zohar, and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were
with him.
For he was afraid to dwell in Zohar, and he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
Now the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man on the
earth to come to us as the custom of all the earth.
Come let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve
the lineage of our father.
So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with
her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, Indeed I lay with my
father last night.
Let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve
the lineage of our father.
Then they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay
with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.
He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben Ammi.
He is the father of the people of Amun to this day.
Chapter 20 And Abraham journeyed from there to the south
and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister.
And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Indeed you are a dead man
because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.
But Abimelech did not come near her, and he said, Lord, you will slay a righteous nation
also?
Did he not say to me, She is my sister?
And she, even she herself said, He is my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.
And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your
heart, for I also withheld you from sinning against me.
Therefore I did not let you touch her.
Now therefore restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you,
and you shall live.
But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.
So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things
in their hearing.
And the men were very much afraid.
And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done to us?
How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?
You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.
Then Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you have in view that you have done this thing?
And Abraham said, Because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place, and
they will kill me on account of my wife.
But indeed she is truly my 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, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said
to her, This is your kindness that you should do for me.
In every place, wherever we go, say of me, He is my brother.
Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham,
and restored Sarah his wife to him.
And Abimelech said, See my land is before you, dwell where it pleases you.
Then to Sarah he said, Behold I have given you your brother a thousand pieces of silver.
Heed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.
Thus, thus she was rebuked.
So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female servants.
Then they bore children, for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech
because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.