Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps I will have children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes. And Sarai said to Abram, "may my harm be upon you. I had my servant sleep with you, and when she saw that she had conceived, she no longer respected me. May Yahweh judge between me and you!" And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant is under your authority. Do to her that which is good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence.

And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, "From where have you come, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress." Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her authority." And the angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance." And the angel of Yahweh said to her:

So she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are El-Roi," for she said, "Here I have seen after he who sees me." Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I am El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you exceedingly." Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant shall be with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land in which you are living as an alien, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

And God said to Abraham, "Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also with your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. And at eight days of age you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner who is not from your offspring. You must certainly circumcise the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner. And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. And God said to Abraham, "as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her." And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, "Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" And God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year." When he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all those acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

And Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he was sitting in the doorway of the tent at the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing near him. And he saw them and ran from the doorway of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the ground. And he said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest under the tree. And let me bring a piece of bread, then refresh yourselves. Afterward you can pass on, once you have passed by with your servant." Then they said, "Do so as you have said." Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and he said, "Quickly—make three seahs of fine flour for kneading and make bread cakes!" And Abraham ran to the cattle and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he made haste to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set it before them. And he was standing by them under the tree while they ate. And they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Here, in the tent." And he said, "I will certainly return to you in the spring, and look, Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the doorway of the tent, and which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; the way of women had ceased to be for Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself saying, "After I am worn out and my husband is old, shall this pleasure be to me?" Then Yahweh said to Abraham, "What is this that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Is it indeed true that I will bear a child, now that I have grown old?’ Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you in the spring and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," because she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down upon Sodom. And Abraham went with them to send them on their way. Then Yahweh said, "Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do? Abraham will surely become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed on account of him. For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him." Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very serious, I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress which has come to me? If not, I will know."

And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham was still standing before Yahweh. And Abraham drew near to Yahweh and said, "Will you also sweep away the righteous with the wicked? If perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city, will you also sweep them away and not forgive the place on account of the fifty righteous in her midst? Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to kill the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous would be as the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?" And Yahweh said, "If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, in the midst of the city, then I will forgive the whole place for their sake." Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I am dust and ashes. Perhaps the fifty righteous are lacking five—will you destroy the whole city on account of the five?" And he answered, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." And once again he spoke to him and said, "What if forty are found there?" And he answered, "I will not do it on account of the forty." And he said, "Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if thirty be found there?" And he answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." And he said, "Please, now, I was bold to speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there?" And he answered, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty." And he said, "Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" And he answered, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten." Then Yahweh left, as he finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

And he went out from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed, saying, "Where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom that has been granted to this man, and the miracles such as these performed through his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they were offended by him. And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own household." And he was not able to do any miracle in that place except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was astonished because of their unbelief.

And he was going around among the villages teaching. And he summoned the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. And he commanded them that they take along nothing for the journey except only a staff—no bread, no traveler’s bag, no money in their belts— but to put on sandals and not to wear two tunics. And he said to them, "Whenever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there. And whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them." And they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they were expelling many demons and anointing many sick people with olive oil and healing them.

And King Herod heard it, because his name had become known. And they were saying, "John, the one who baptizes, has been raised from the dead, and because of this these miraculous powers are at work in him." But others were saying, "He is Elijah," and others were saying, "He is a prophet like one of the prophets." But when Herod heard it, he said, "John whom I beheaded—this one has been raised!" For Herod himself had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not permitted for you to have your brother’s wife." So Herodias held a grudge against him and was wanting to kill him, and was not able to do so. For Herod was afraid of John, because he knew him to be a righteous and holy man and protected him. And when he listened to him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he listened to him gladly. And a suitable day came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and military tribunes and the most prominent men of Galilee. And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced and pleased Herod and his dinner guests, the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you." And he swore to her, "Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!" And she went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately." And although he was deeply grieved, the king, because of his oaths and dinner guests, did not want to refuse her. And immediately the king sent an executioner and ordered him to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison. And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard this, they came and took away his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

And the apostles regathered to Jesus and reported to him everything that they had done and that they had taught. And he said to them, "You yourselves come privately to an isolated place and rest for a short time." For those who were coming and going were many, and they did not even have time to eat. And they went away in the boat to an isolated place by themselves. And many people saw them leaving and recognized them, and ran there together by land from all the towns, and arrived ahead of them. And getting out of the boat he saw the large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. And the hour had already become late when his disciples came up to him, saying, "The place is desolate and the hour is already late. Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding farms and villages and purchase something to eat for themselves." But he answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Should we go and purchase bread for two hundred denarii and give it to them to eat?" And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." And he ordered them all to recline in groups on the green grass. And they reclined in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples so that they could set them before them. And he distributed the two fish to them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up the broken pieces, twelve baskets full, and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself dismissed the crowd. And after he had said farewell to them, he went away to the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land. And he saw them being beaten in their rowing because the wind was against them. Around the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and he was wanting to pass by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out. For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke with them and said to them, "Have courage, I am he! Do not be afraid!" And he went up with them into the boat, and the wind abated. And they were extraordinarily astounded within themselves, because they did not understand concerning the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

And after they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and anchored there. And as they were getting out of the boat, people recognized him immediately. They ran about through that whole region and began to carry around those who were sick on stretchers, wherever they heard that he was. And wherever he would go, into villages or into towns or to farms, they would put those who were sick in the marketplaces and would implore him that if they could touch even the edge of his cloak. And all those who touched it were healed.