Parasha: Genesis 18:1 - Genesis 22:19
Haftarah: 2 Kings 4:1-37
B`rit Ha`Dashah: Galations 4:1- 5:6
Genesis 18: 1 Then Adonai appeared to him by the El-oyn trees (possibly Oak tree) of Mam-re (="strength"), as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 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,
3 and said, "My Lord ( xn!-Mx9 ynAdox3 Adonay of me/mine) , if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.
4 "Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5 "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."
6 So Avraham hurried into the tent to Sa-rah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes."
7 And Avraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 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.
9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sa-rah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent."
10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sa-rah your wife shall have a son." (Sa-rah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)
11 Now Avraham and Sa-rah were old, well advanced in age; and Sa-rah had passed the age of childbearing.
12 Therefore Sa-rah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
13 And Adonai said to Avraham, "Why did Sa-rah laugh, saying, `Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'
14 "Is anything too hard for Adonai? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sa-rah shall have a son."
15 But Sa-rah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!"
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Se-dom (=Burning), and Avraham went with them to send them on the way.
17 And Adonai said, "Shall I hide from Avraham what I am doing,
18 "since Avraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Adonai, to do righteousness and justice, that Adonai may bring to Avraham what He has spoken to him."
20 And Adonai said, "Because the outcry against Se-dom and Amo-rah (="submersion") is great, and because their sin is very grave,
21 "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."
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Se-dom, but Avraham still stood before Adonai.
23 And Avraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 "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?
25 "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?"
26 So Adonai said, "If I find in Se-dom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."
(The Discourse)
Vs 28: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous
VS 29: "Suppose there should be forty found there?"
Vs30: Suppose thirty should be found there?"
Vs 31: Suppose twenty should be found there?"
32 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."
33 So Adonai went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Avraham; and Avraham returned to his place.
Genesis 19: 1 Now the two angels came to Se-dom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Se-dom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
2 And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to 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."
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Se-dom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
5 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."
6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,
7 and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
8 "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" (My roof of protection)
9 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.
10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
12 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!
13 "For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of Adonai, and Adonai has sent us to destroy it."
14 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 Adonai will destroy this city!" But to his sons_in_law he seemed to be joking.
15 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."
16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, Adonai being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
17 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."
18 Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!
19 "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.
20 "See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." (He selfishly intercedes for the city.)
21 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.
22 "Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Tso`ar (rfA5c4. = "insignificance")
NOTE: As they flee, Lot’s wife looks back... and you know the rest of the story.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Avraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Adonai.
28 Then he looked toward Se-dom and Amo-rah, 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.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Avraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
30 Then Lot went up out of Tso`ar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Tso`ar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
NOTE: The two daughters of Lot lay with their father and both have children by him. Moav (Of father) the father of all-Moav and Ben_Am-mi the father of the people of Am-mon.
NOTE: In Genesis 20, Avraham and Sa-rah enter the territory of Avi-melek (Father-King) and they tell everyone that they are brother and sister and again... and you know the rest of this story.
Genesis 21: 1 And Adonai visited Sa-rah as He had said, and Adonai did for Sa-rah as He had spoken.
2 For Sa-rah conceived and bore Avraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Avraham called the name of his son who was born to him__whom Sa-rah bore to him__Isaac (Yis-hacq = laugh).
4 Then Avraham circumcised his son Yis-hacq when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Now Avraham was one hundred years old when his son Yis-hacq was born to him.
6 And Sa-rah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me."
7 She also said, "Who would have said to Avraham that Sa-rah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Avraham made a great feast on the same day that Yis-hacq was weaned.
9 And Sa-rah saw the son of Ha-gar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Avraham, scoffing.
10 Therefore she said to Avraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Yis-hacq."
11 And the matter was very displeasing in Avraham's sight because of his son.
12 But God said to Avraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sa-rah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in
Yis-hacq your seed shall be called.
13 "Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
NOTE: Genesis 21: 14- 31 - Ha-gar leaves with Ish-ma-el. Avraham and Avi-melek have words over a well in Beersheba (Ver-Shava = seven wells).
32 Thus they made a covenant at Ver-Shava. So Avi-melek rose with Pee_kole' (="strong"), the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines (Pelish-tim).
33 Then Avraham planted a ta-ma-risk (Esh-el) tree in Ver-Shava, and there called on the name of Adonai, the Everlasting God (O_lawm' El)
34 And Avraham stayed in the land of the Pelish-tim (="immigrants") many days.
Genesis 22: 1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Avraham, and said to him, "Avraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Yis-hacq, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah (Moriy-yah ="chosen by Yehova) , and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3 So Avraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Yis-hacq his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Avraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
5 And Avraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
6 So Avraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Yis-hacq his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7 But Yis-hacq spoke to Avraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 And Avraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Avraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Yis-hacq his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10 And Avraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of Adonai called to him from heaven and said, "Avraham, Avraham!" So he said, "Here I am."
12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13 Then Avraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Avraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 And Avraham called the name of the place, The_LORD_Will_Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of Adonai it shall be provided."
15 Then the Angel of Adonai called to Avraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says Adonai, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son __
17 "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
19 So Avraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Ver-Shava; and Avraham dwelt at Ver-Shava.