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deal of wealth, so he chose all the plain of Jordan, and went out toward the east, and set up his tent near Sodom.

And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had left him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest will I give to thee, and to thy heirs forever.

GOD RENEWS THE PROMISE HE MADE TO ABRAM.

Abram did not know how this could be, for he had no child, and so could have no heirs to all his great wealth.

But God told him that he should yet have a child, and that he would be no more able to count his heirs than he was to count the stars in the sky.

Now there was in Abram's tent a young girl from Egypt, named Hagar. Hagar helped Sarai with her work and waited upon her, and for awhile Sarai was good to her and treated

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her kindly. But there came a time when Sarai's heart turned from Hagar, and she was so harsh with her that Hagar fled from her sight.

The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water, in some waste lands. And he said, Hagar, from whence didst thou come, and where wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to thy mistress and do as she bids thee. He told her that she should have a son, and should call his name Ishmael, because the Lord had heard her voice when she cried out in her grief.

Ishmael means, God shall hear. And the angel also told Hagar that her son would lead a wild out-door life, and be at war with every one, but at last he should die in the midst of his own people.

And it all came to pass just as the angel said. In a few months God gave Hagar a son, and she called his name Ishmael.

At this time Abram was fourscore and six years old. And when he was ninety-nine years of age, God spoke to him and said, Thou shalt be no more called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for thou shalt be the father of many

nations.

And God said that Sarai should be called Sarah, for she was to be the mother of nations.

Abraham did not see how this could be, but still he believed in God, and in the angels whom he sent.

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And Abraham was one hundred years of age when his son Isaac was born. And the child grew, and was a great joy to Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham made a feast for the child, and Sarah saw Ishmael, Hagar's son, making sport of Isaac, her own boy. And she told Abraham that he must send Hagar and her son out of the house, for the son of a bond-woman, or slave, should not heir with her own son, Isaac.

Abraham was grieved at this; but God told him to do as Sarah told him. So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and put it on Hagar's shoulder, and sent her and her child out of the house. And she went,

and wandered off into the wilderness or desert of Beer-sheba. The boy cried out for a drink. He was likely to die with thirst. And the bottle was empty, and there was no sign of water in the dry waste land. So Hagar laid the child under a bush, and went a good way off from him, for she could not bear to see her dear boy die. And there she wept and prayed, as only a mother can pray.

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And the angel of God said to her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad. Arise, and take the lad in thine arms; for I will make him a great nation.

And as she raised her eyes she saw a well of water close by; and she went and filled the bottle, and gave the lad a drink. And God was kind to the boy, and he grew up, and became a great archer. And he took for a wife a woman from the

land of Egypt.

CHAPTER VII.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH.

ABRAHAM dwelt on the plains of Mamre, and as he sat in the door of his tent in the heat of the day, he looked up and saw three men standing near him. Something in his heart told him that they were sent of God, and he ran out to meet them, and bowed down to the ground before them.

In the East men do not shake hands as we do, or bow when they meet a friend, but kneel down with their faces in the dust, as a sign of their great humility. This is as though they said, Great art thou, and we are as the dust of the earth.

Abraham said, My lord, if thou art pleased with me, stay here, I pray thee. Let water be brought for you to wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

This washing of the feet was another Eastern custom. In those days men did not wear such shoes as ours. They wore

on their feet what was called a sandal, which was a leather sole fastened with strings, or straps, to the upper part of the foot and ankle. When they entered a house these sandals were taken off, and the feet washed by those whom they came to visit.

Abraham said also, I will fetch some bread to give you strength, and then ye may go on your way. And they said he might do so.

So Abraham hurried into the tent, and told Sarah to bake some cakes upon the hearth. Then he ran out to where the cattle were, and brought a young and tender calf, and gave it to one of his men to make it ready to cook. And when the food was all nicely prepared Abraham set it before his guests, and stood near them under the tree while they did eat.

As they rose up to go, Abraham went with them part of the way. And the Lord told Abraham that because of the wicked way in which the people in Sodom and Gomorrah lived, he meant to destroy these two great cities.

Abraham thought of Lot and his family, and asked if the good would have to suffer with the bad; and if God would not save Sodom if fifty good men could be found in it. The Lord said he would spare the place for their sakes.

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Abraham said, There may be five less than fifty. Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five good men?

The Lord said, If I find forty-five good men in it, I will spare the place.

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