Obrazy na stronie
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person shall be cut off from the fellowship of my people, both on earth and in heaven; because he hath, in neglect of the sign, broken and despised my covenant.

XVII. 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and partly for joy, partly for admiration and astonishment, laughed in himself; and thought thus in his heart, Shall a child be born to me at a hundred years of age; and, which is more wonderful, shall this son be born of Sarah my wife, after her ninety years' barrenness? Seeing our youth could raise no seed, shall our old age be blessed with posterity?

XVII. 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee.

And Abraham said to God; I believe, O Lord, as thou sayest, that my old age shall be blessed with further issue; for which also thou wilt, in all likelihood, reserve thy special and highest favour: but let not the son thou hast given me already, even Ishmael, be cast out and neglected by thee; let it please thee to continue him to me also, with much prosperity.

XVIII. 2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him.

And, as he looked about, behold, three angels, in the appearance of men, though not yet so known of him, stood within view of him. XVIII. 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. And he, noting one of them to carry some extraordinary majesty above the rest, as being indeed the Son of God, spake especially to him, not excluding the rest; Lord, if I have now found favour in thy sight, go not, I pray thee, hastily away from me thy servant; but be content, that I may give thee some entertainment.

XVIII. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have

a son.

And he said, I will most certainly return again to thee at that time, when the conception, by course of nature, may have life and being; and lo, then Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son.

XVIII. 11 And it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of

women.

That disposition of body, which naturally, in their months, is necessary for child-bearing women, was, through dryness of age, long ago ceased in Sarah.

XVIII. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxen old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? Therefore Sarah distrustfully laughed, in the secret of her heart, and said in herself, After I am waxen old, above the course of nature in those that are capable of conceiving, and my husband Abraham also, shall I have the pleasure of the marriage bed, which in my younger days, I could not find?

XVIII. 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

Seeing that I have purposed to honour Abraham so, as that of his loins a great and mighty nation shall rise; and in that seed, which shall come of him, namely the Saviour of mankind, all the na tions in the earth shall be blessed, and all solemn benedictions shall still be under the name of Abraham.

XVIII. 21 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.

I will now take some public course, whereby the world may see and know, that I take notice of their sins; I will, therefore, call their sins to examination, and judge them according to the shamelessness of their wickedness; and if their iniquity hath been less heinous than it hath appeared, I will inflict some less grievous punishment upon them.

XVIII. 22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went towards Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. And the two destroying angels turned from Abraham, and went towards Sodom; but Abraham stood still before the third, whom now he knew to be the Son of God, suing to him for mercy.

XVIII. 24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

If there be fifty sincere, upright, and innocent men, in all the five cities, whereof Sodom is the chief, wilt thou destroy them, notwithstanding?

XVIII. 28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righ teous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?

If there shall lack five of fifty righteous in all the five cities, wilt thou, for the want of five, destroy them?

XIX. 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

Who, crying unto Lot, said, Where are the men, which came unto thee this night, whose goodly form and beauty we noted; bring them forth to us, that we may use them to our lust.

XIX. 8 Only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

For, seeing they are come to my house as my guests, by the law of common equity and hospitality, they may well look to be safe guarded by me.

XIX. 11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Then they smote all the Sodomites, that were at the door, both small and great, with such dizziness of brain and dimness of sight,

that they went up and down, groping for Lot's door, till they were weary; and could not find it.

XIX. 14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters.

Then Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which were contracted to his daughters.

XIX. 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

And when they had brought them, as it were, by strong hand out of the city, the angel said, Now escape for thy life: do not, whether for distrust, or curiosity, or pity, once look towards Sodom; and think it not enough, that thou hast voided the city, unless thou make speed also out of the whole plain, which hath been defiled by these abominations; haste thee, therefore, up to the next hill, lest thou be destroyed.

XIX. 20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

See now, this town, which is hard by, and therefore easy for me to flee unto; and is withal a little one, and therefore not much for thee to grant, and by all likelihood, not so notoriously evil as these other, that are more frequent and populous: O let me go thither for shelter; behold, it is no great thing that I ask of thee, and yet such as may be to my safety and preservation.

XIX. 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

Haste thee then, and be thou there preserved; for, such is my merciful respect to thee, that it holds my hands so, that I cannot take revenge on these wicked cities, till thou be in safety: therefore, upon this occasion of Lot's argument from the smallness of the city, it was ever after called Zoar.

XIX. 24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven.

Then God the Son rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other two cities of the plain, fire and brimstone, from God the Father out of heaven.

XIX. 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Now his wife, that stood lingering behind him, whether through love or pity of the place, or expectation of her sons-in-law, or distrust, or curious desire to see the manner of the judgment, looked back towards Sodom; and therefore was inwrapped in the judg-" ment; and, through the extreme rage of that fire and brimstone, wherewith she was overwhelmed, was miraculously made a pillar of a white or saltish kind of stone.

XIX. 30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the moun

tain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

But he feared to tarry in Zoar, through the weakness of his faith,. notwithstanding God's promise to him; whether for that it was so near to Sodom; or whether for the manners of the place; but chose rather to dwell solitary in a cave, in the mountain, both he and his two daughters.

XIX. 31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth.

And the elder said to the younger, Our father is now old, and cannot long be in any possibility of issue; and in all these parts there is not left a man, which might converse with us, for ge

neration.

XIX. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. Come, we know well that our father will never by sober persuasions be drawn to this act let us make him drunk with wine, and so lie with him; not so much for any lust, as for the preservation of some seed of our father.

XIX. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

And he, being oppressed with wine, was drawn unawares unto this filthiness, not considering what he did; and not perceiving, either when he lay down or rose up.

XX. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. And Abraham, through his weakness, seeing how his excuse had sped in Egypt, renewed it now again; and, concealing part of the truth, said, She is my sister. Then Abimelech, a king in that country of Canaan, upon the report given of her, sent, and took her into his house.

XX. 4 LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

And he said, Lord, wilt thou punish not me only, but my whole nation and people, in me, which are utterly innocent in this business?

XX. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live.

Now then, deliver the man his wife again, for he is a man dear unto me, and one whom I have in an especial manner graced with my presence and promises; and therefore, whose prayers shall be much available for thy safety and life.

XX. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

What motive didst thou raise unto thyself, from any lightness in me, or injury done to thyself by me, that thou shouldest do this thing?

XX. 12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of

my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Yet, in very deed, I have not merely lied in saying, she is my sister; but only dissembled, and concealed some part of the truth; for she is very near of blood to me, my niece, as being the daughter of that brother of mine, whom my father had by a second wife.

XX. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

Likewise, to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given to him, whom thou calledst thy brother, a thousand pieces of silver; behold, he is thy protection from all injuries, wheresoever thou comest: thine eyes and desires shall content themselves with him alone; and he shall stand, betwixt all others' eyes and thee, as thy lawful husband, that they may not thus inordinately desire thee: and, by this speech and event, she was thus secretly reproved.

XX. 18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife. For the Lord had punished all the women in Abimelech's house, with a sudden barrenness; so that they could not conceive; because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

XXI. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck?

Who could ever have thought or believed, much less would have told Abraham, that Sarah, after this age, should both bear him a son, and have this strength and vigour of body continued to her, to give suck also, &c. ?

XXI. 14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away, &c.

He took bread, and a bottle of water, so much as he thought would suffice, till they came to the place he enjoined them; and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and committed the boy to her band, and sent her away, &c.

XXI. 19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

And now God caused her to see a well of water, which was there before her; but, through her grief, or the closeness of the place, was not before seen of her.

XXI. 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

And he answered, My desire is, that thou shouldest receive from my hands these seven lambs, as a pledge or confirmation of this covenant of peace, made between us; and an earnest of the recovery, and free grant of this well, which I have

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