Bible Study Group

  The Covenant of Circumcision 1.When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the  Lord  appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty [ a ] ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.   2  Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,   4  “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.   5  No longer will you be called Abram [ b ] ; your name will be Abraham, [ c ]  for I have made you a father of many nations.   6  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.   7  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.   8  The whole land of Canaan, where...

 Hagar and Ishmael 1. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 ...

 1 .  After this, the word of the   Lord   came to Abram   in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram.      I am your shield, [ a ]      your very great reward. [ b ] ” 2  But Abram said, “Sovereign  Lord , what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [ c ]  my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”   3  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4  Then the word of the  Lord  came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”   5  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring [ d ]  be.” 6  Abram believed the  Lord , and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7  He also said to him, “I am the  Lord ...

  Abram Rescues Lot 1.At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, [ a ]  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim,   2  these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).   3  All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley).   4  For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5  In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim   6  and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert.   7  Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the wh...

  1. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord . 5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if ...