(Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, and, as the custom sometimes was in those days, she gave him her handmaid Hagar, to be his wife. And Hagar had a child, and Abram called the name of the child Ishmael.)
And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I [{29}] will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly."
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy family after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy family after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy family after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
And God said unto Abraham, "And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy family after thee throughout their generations."
And God said unto Abraham, "As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; she shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his family after him."
And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against [{30}] him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant."
And they said, "So do, as thou hast said."
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."
And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it to the servant; and he hasted to dress it. 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.
And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing that 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, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; to the end that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."