Study Desk

"Suppose there are just forty good people?" Abraham asked. "Even for them," the Lord replied, "I won't destroy the city."

Finally, Abraham said, "Please don't get angry, Lord , if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there." "For the sake of ten good people," the Lord told him, "I still won't destroy the city."

When they were outside, one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you will be safe."

One day his older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is old, and there are no men anywhere for us to marry.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream and said, "You have taken a married woman, and for this you will die!"

Early the next morning Abimelech sent for his officials, and when he told them what had happened, they were frightened.

God blessed Ishmael, and as the boy grew older, he became an expert with his bow and arrows. He lived in the Paran Desert, and his mother chose an Egyptian woman for him to marry.

So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

Isaac said, "Father, we have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" "My son," Abraham answered, "God will provide the lamb." The two of them walked on, and

When Sarah was one hundred twenty-seven years old, she died in Kiriath-Arba, better known as Hebron, in the land of Canaan. After Abraham had mourned for her,

"Sir," they answered, "you are an important man. Choose the best place to bury your wife. None of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead."

"Sir, the whole field, including the cave, is yours. With my own people as witnesses, I freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead."

in the name of the Lord , who rules heaven and earth, that you won't choose a wife for my son Isaac from the people here in the land of Canaan.

Instead, go back to the land where I was born and find a wife for him from among my relatives."

But the servant asked, "What if the young woman I choose refuses to leave home and come here with me? Should I send Isaac there to look for a wife?"

The Lord who rules heaven brought me here from the land where I was born and promised that he would give this land to my descendants forever. When you go back there, the Lord will send his angel ahead of you to help you find a wife for my son.

Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived.

When he got there, he let the camels rest near the well outside the city. It was late afternoon, the time when the women came out for water.

The servant prayed: You, Lord , are the God my master Abraham worships. Please keep your promise to him and let me find a wife for Isaac today.

The young women of the city will soon come to this well for water,