Genesis A

by Unknown

XXI.

Now the period of time had come when Abraham1720
brought a wife, a fair and free-born bride to his house,
where he possessed a dwelling: the woman was named
Sarra, as the books tell us. They enjoyed life thus for
many winters, held the property together in peace for1725
many years. But it was not vouchsafed to Abraham
as yet that his bright-faced bride should bring into the
world a guardian for his heritage, that Sarra [should
bear] sons and daughters to Abraham.

Then Abraham's father set out with his family and1730
[all] his substance to pass through the Caldean country:
he wisely wished to seek the land of Canan, with his
household. The cousins chosen by the Lord, Abraham
and Loth, went with him out of their heritage. Then1735
the nobly-born sons of the patriarchs took up their
dwelling in Carran, the men with their wives. In his
home here Abraham's father departed this life, the1740
steadfast worthy: he had told 205 winters, in all, when
he fared forth ripe in years to meet his fate.

Then the holy Guardian of the heavenly kingdom, the1745
Eternal Lord, spoke to Abraham:

"Set forth now, and take thy movable possessions and
fertile herds with thee. Give up Carran, thy father's
dwelling-place. Depart, as I bid thee, O dearest of
men, and heed well my instructions, and seek the land1750
which I shall show thee, a broad verdant country. Thou
shalt live blessed under my protection: if any of the
dwellers on earth greet thee with evil, I will set upon1755
them my curse and my hatred, long-lasting affliction;
and I shall give favors, abundance of blessings, to those
who treat thee well. Through thee shall all earth-
dwellers, sons of man, receive peace and friendship,1760
my grace and blessing, in this world. Far spreading
under the sun shall be the number of thy race by [the
birth of] sons and daughters, until many a region of the1765
earth shall be filled with thy progeny."

Then Abraham, preëminently upright, rich, and blessed
with gold and silver, set out to take his flocks and
possessions from Carran into the country of Egipt, as1770
the Warder of Victory, our Ruler, bade him through his
Word: they sought the land and nation of Canan. Thus
the man dear to God came to lead his wife, his dear bed-1775
fellow, and his nephew's wife, into this inheritance, into
happiness. He had [numbered] 75 winters when he
had to fare forth, to give up Carran and his kinsfolk.
So Abraham set out, mindful of the instructions of the1780
Father Almighty, to look for the broad land beyond
these nations, at his Lord's command, until prospering
in his journey the courageous man came to Siem, of the
Cananite race. Then the Lord and King of the Angels,
Sovereign of men, manifested himself to Abraham and1785
said:

"This is the country, verdant and bright and adorned
with fruits, that I intend to give into the power of thy
descendants, an ample kingdom!"1790

Then the good man built an altar and offered sacrifice
to the Ruler of Life and Source of Light, the Protector
of souls. Thereupon Abraham traveled still further from
the east in order to search with his eyes for the choicest1795
of lands (he remembered the favors, God's promises,
which the King of Victory Himself truthfully declared
to him through his holy word), until the people came with
their possessions to the place where the town is called
Bethlem: the glad-hearted chieftain and his brother's1800
son, pious men, went forward over the storied land from
the east, with their possessions, over the precipitous
mountain-sides, and chose a dwelling-place for them-
selves where the fields seemed bright and fair to them.1805