CHAPTER III.

The Tower of Babel. Lot and Abraham. The Burning of the Cities of the Plain.

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|OW unto Shem, Ham, and Japheth were sons

born after the flood. And the whole earth

was of one language, and of one speech.

And they said one to another, Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded.

And the Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel.

Now Shem, Noah's eldest son, lived many years, and had sons and grandsons, and they also had grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And one of these was named Terah, who had three sons, Abram,

Nahor, and Haran. And Haran was the father of Lot. And Abram's wife was Sarai, and Nahor's wife was Milcah.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And Lot also had flocks, and herds, and tents. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or, if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Then Lot chose all the plain of Jordan, and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Now, many kings came and fought with the King

of Sodom and the King of Gomorrah, and they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And when Abram heard Lot was taken captive he armed his trained servants, and smote them and pursued them, and brought again Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

And the King of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of the kings.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? The Lord brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And Abram believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Now as yet Abram and Sarai had no son, but Hagar, Sarai's maid, had a son named Ishmael, And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, and said, I am the

Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, Thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son of her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son, indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac.

Again the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plains 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 by him, and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself towards the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on, for therefore are ye come to your servant.

And they said, Do so, as thou hast said.

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah and said, Make ready quickly three measures of meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a

calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hastened 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. said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? said, Behold, in the tent.

And they

And he

And he said, Lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And the men rose up, and looked towards Sodom; and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing 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 know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.

And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city, wilt Thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the