There dwelt in the land of Ur a man whose name was A-bra-ham. And in that land the men did not serve the true God, but had set up false gods to whom they paid their vows.

And God told A-bra-ham to leave his home and go to a land which he would show him. A-bra-ham did not know where the land was, but he had great faith, and knew that God would take care of him and bring him to the land he had told him of.

So A-bra-ham took Sa-rah, his wife, and his bro-ther's son, whose name was Lot, and they set out for the land which God had said he would show him.

A-bra-ham was a rich man, and so was Lot, and they had a great wealth of flocks, and of herds, and of tents. And they each had a large force of herds-men. And these herds-men were at strife.

And A-bra-ham told Lot it was best that they should part; and he said to him, Choose where thou shalt go. If thou wilt take the left hand I will go to the right, and if thou wilt go to the right hand then I will go to the left.

So Lot looked round and saw that the plain of Jor-dan was rich in grass, and would be a fine place for him and his herds to dwell in; so he made his choice at once, and went to live there.

Two large towns were on this plain, Sod-om and Go-mor-rah. The men in Sod-om were full of sin, yet Lot, though a good man, went to live there that he might have a chance to add to his wealth.

As soon as Lot had gone, the Lord told A-bra-ham that he would give to him and his heirs all that land as far as he could see it. And the tribe of A-bra-ham would be so great that no one could count them.

Now Sa-rah A-bra-ham's wife, had a hand-maid—that is, a maid-of-all-work—whose name was Ha-gar; and she came from E-gypt. Ha-gar did Sa-rah a great wrong, and Sa-rah drove her from the house, and she fled to the woods.

An an-gel of the Lord found Ha-gar there by a spring of wa-ter, and said to her, From whence didst thou come? and where wilt thou go? And she said she had fled from Sa-rah, whose maid she was.

And the an-gel said she must go back to Sa-rah and do as she wished her to do. And he told Ha-gar she would have a son whose name would be Ish-ma-el, and that he would live out of doors and be at strife with all men. So Ha-gar went back to Sa-rah, and in due time God gave her a son, who was called Ish-ma-el.

When A-bra-ham was an old man, God told him that he and Sa-rah should have a son, who should be called I-saac.

One day at the hour of noon, when A-bra-ham sat by the door of his tent, he looked up and saw three men quite near him. Then he ran out to meet them, and bowed his face to the ground. And A-bra-ham bade them sit down and rest, and let some wa-ter be brought that they might wash their feet.

No one in those days wore such shoes as are worn now. Some went bare-foot, and some wore just a sole tied to the foot with strings, which did not keep off the dust and dirt as our shoes do.

So when one came in from a long walk the first thing he did was to bathe his feet, as that gave rest and ease, and when guests came the bowl was brought for their use.

And A-bra-ham brought them food to eat, and stood by to wait on them; and when they had had their fill, went with them to show them the way.

In those days the Lord came down on the earth and spoke with men, and it is thought that one of these three was the Lord, and the two with him were an-gels.

And the Lord told A-bra-ham that he meant to burn Sod-om and Go-mor-rah for the sins of those who dwelt there. This made A-bra-ham sad, and he said there might be a few good men there, and he begged the Lord to spare the towns for their sakes.

The Lord said he would do so if ten good men could be found there.

And the Lord left A-bra-ham and he went back to his tent. At the close of the day, Lot sat in the gate of Sod-om and two an-gels came there. And as soon as Lot saw them he rose up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

Then these an-gels told Lot to take out of Sod-om all those who were dear to him, and flee in great haste, as the Lord meant to set the place on fire.

They were told not to look back, but while on their way Lot's wife turned her head, which was a sign that her heart was in Sod-om, and she died where she stood, and turned to salt.

But Lot and his two girls reached Zo-ar at dawn of the next day. Then the Lord rained fire on Sod-om and Go-mor-rah, and they were burnt up in fierce flame, with all that lived there, and all that grew out of the ground.

In due time God gave A-bra-ham the son he had said he should have.

And the child grew, and as soon as it could eat, A-bra-ham made a great feast. And at this feast Sa-rah saw that Ha-gar's son, Ish-ma-el, made fun of her boy, and she begged A-bra-ham to cast him out. A-bra-ham did not wish to do this, but God spoke to him and told him to do as Sa-rah had said, for I-saac was to be the true heir. So the next day A-bra-ham gave food and drink to Ha-gar and sent her and her child out of his house.

And Ha-gar took her boy and went to the waste lands of Beer-she-ba.

And when there was nought for the child to drink, he grew weak, and was like to die. And Ha-gar laid him 'neath a bush and went off and sat down and hid her face, and wept, for she loved her boy ve-ry much and did not want to see him die.

And a voice spoke to Ha-gar out of the sky, and said, What ails thee, Ha-gar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Rise, lift up the lad and hold him in thine arms.

And the voice told her that her son should be the head of a great tribe. And as she raised her eyes she saw a well of wa-ter, and she ran to it and gave her son a drink and he was soon strong and well once more.

And God was kind to Ish-ma-el, and he grew, and made his home in the woods, and came to have great skill with the bow.

Now it was God's wish to try the faith of A-bra-ham to him.

And he told him to take his son, I-saac, and go to the land of Mo-ri-ah, and lay him on the al-tar he was to build on one of the mounts there. It was not a hard task to kill a lamb, and to burn it so that the smoke of it should rise up to God, like praise from the hearts of men. But how could A-bra-ham take his own dear son, I-saac, and lay him on the wood, and let him be burnt up like a lamb?

Yet God told him to do it, and A-bra-ham knew that it was safe for him to do as God said.

So he rose the next day and took two of his young men with him, and I-saac his son, and cut the wood the right length, and set out for the mount of which God had told him.

And as they drew near the place he took the wood from the ass and laid it on I-saac's back, and took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two went up the mount.

Now I-saac did not know what the Lord had told A-bra-ham to do, nor why his fa-ther took him up to the mount. And he said, Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?

And A-bra-ham said, My son, God will give us the lamb we need.

And when they came to the place, A-bra-ham piled up the stones and put the wood on them, and bound I-saac and laid him on the wood.

Then he drew forth the knife to kill his son. And just then a voice from the sky cried out, A-bra-ham! A-bra-ham! And A-bra-ham said, Here am I.

And the Lord told him to do no harm to I-saac, for now he knew that A-bra-ham loved him, since he would not spare his own dear son if it was God's wish that he should give him up.

And as A-bra-ham turned his head he saw a ram that was caught in a bush, and he took the ram and laid it on the wood, and burnt it in-stead of his son.

At the end of a few years A-bra-ham went to live at Heb-ron. And Sa-rah died there.

When I-saac grew up to be a man, A-bra-ham did not wish him to take a wife from the land of Ca-naan where they served strange gods.

So he sent one of his men to the land where he used to live to bring back a wife for I-saac.

And as he drew near to a large town in that land he made his cam-els kneel down by a well. And it was the time of day when the wo-men of the place went out to draw wa-ter from the well.

And the man whom A-bra-ham had sent, asked God to help him, and to let him know which one of them was to be I-saac's wife. And he said he would ask one of them for a drink, and if she was kind and gave him a drink, and let his cam-els quench their thirst, then he should know that she was the one God chose to be the wife of A-bra-ham's son.

And he raised his heart to God and said, O Lord God of A-bra-ham, give me good speed this day.

And while he yet spoke a fair young maid named Re-bek-ah went down to the well and came up with the jar she had filled. And the man ran to meet her, and said to her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

And she said, Drink, my Lord, and held the jar in her hand so that he could drink with ease.

Then she said, I will give thy cam-els a drink; and she went down to the well and drew for all the cam-els. And the man stood still, and was yet in doubt if this was the maid whom God chose to be I-saac's wife.

And as soon as the cam-els had drunk their fill, the man took a gold ear-ring, and two bands of gold for the wrists, and gave them to Re-bek-ah. And he said, Whose child art thou? tell me, I pray thee. And is there room in thy sire's house for us to lodge in?

The maid said that her sire's name was Beth-u-el, and that there was no lack of straw and food, and there was room in the house where he and his men might lodge.

The man was glad when he heard this, for he knew the Lord had led him, and had brought him to the house to which he was sent. And he bowed his head and gave thanks.

The next day Re-bek-ah and her maids went with A-bra-ham's head man. And they came to the land of Ca-naan.

At the close of the day I-saac went to walk in the fields, and as he raised his eyes he saw the cam-els on their way home, and he went out to meet them.

Re-bek-ah said to the man with whom she rode, What man is this that comes through the field to meet us?

And the man told her that it was A-bra-ham's son, I-saac.

Then the maid drew her veil round her so as to hide her face, and came down from the cam-el. And I-saac took her to his house and made her his wife. And A-bra-ham gave, all that he had to I-saac; and when he died he was laid by the side of Sa-rah, his wife, in the tomb he had bought at Mach-pe-lah.

And to this day no one has had such faith or trust in God as did A-bra-ham.