Chapter 18
1.
And Abraham rose and did all that God
had ordered him, and he took the men of his household and those bought with his
money, and he circumcised them as the Lord had commanded him.
2.
And there was not one left whom he
did not circumcise, and Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised in the
flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years old was Ishmael when he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin.
3.
And in the third day Abraham went out
of his tent and sat at the door to enjoy the heat of the sun, during the pain
of his flesh.
4.
And the Lord appeared to him in the
plain of Mamre, and sent three of his ministering
angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, and he lifted
his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a distance, and he rose up
and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them and brought them into his
house.
5.
And he said to them, If now I have
found favor in your sight, turn in and eat a morsel of bread; and he pressed
them, and they turned in and he gave them water and they washed their feet, and
he placed them under a tree at the door of the tent.
6.
And Abraham ran and took a calf,
tender and good, and he hastened to kill it, and gave it to his servant Eliezer to dress.
7.
And Abraham came to Sarah into the
tent, and he said to her, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead
it and make cakes to cover the pot containing the meat, and she did so.
8.
And Abraham hastened and brought
before them butter and milk, beef and mutton, and gave it before them to eat
before the flesh of the calf was sufficiently done, and they did eat.
9.
And when they had done eating one of
them said to him, I will return to thee according to the time of life, and
Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
10.
And the men afterward departed and
went their ways, to the places to which they were sent.
11.
In those days all the people of
whole five cities, were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord and they
provoked the Lord with their abominations, and they strengthened in aging
abominably and scornfully before the Lord, and their wickedness and crimes were
in those days great before the Lord.
12.
And they had in their land a very
extensive valley, about half a day’s walk, and in it there were fountains of
water and a great deal of herbage surrounding the water.
13.
And all the people of
four times in the year, with their wives and children and all belonging to
them, and they rejoiced there with timbrels and
dances.
14.
And in the time of rejoicing they
would all rise and lay hold of their neighbor’s wives, and some, the virgin
daughters of their neighbors, and they enjoyed them, and each man saw his wife
and daughter in the hands of his neighbor and did not say a word.
15.
And they did so from morning to
night, and they afterward returned home each man to his house and each woman to
her tent; so they always did four times in the year.
16.
Also when a stranger came into their
cities and brought goods which he had purchased with a view to dispose of
there, the people of these cities would assemble, men, women and children,
young and old, and go to the man and take his goods by force, giving a little
to each man until there was an end to all the goods of the owner which he had
brought into the land.
17.
And if the owner of the goods
quarreled with them, saying, What is this work which you have done to me, then
they would approach to him one by one, and each would show him the little which
he took and taunt him, saying, I only took that little which thou didst give
me; and when he heard this from them all, he would arise and go from them in
sorrow and bitterness of soul, when they would all arise and go after him, and
drive him out of the city with great noise and tumult.
18.
And there was a man from the country
of
leisurely going on the road, seated upon his ass, which carried a fine mantle
of divers colors, and the mantle was bound with a cord upon the ass.
19.
And the man was on his journey
passing through the street of Sodom when the sun set in the evening, and he
remained there in order to abide during the night, but no one would let him
into his house; and at that time there was in Sodom a wicked and mischievous
man, one skillful to do evil, and his name was Hedad.
20.
And he lifted up his eyes and saw the
traveler in the street of the city, and he came to him and said, Whence comest thou and whither dost thou go?
21.
And the man said to him, I am
traveling from Hebron to Elam where I belong, and as I passed the sun set and
no one would suffer me to enter his house, though I had bread and water and
also straw and provender for my ass, and am short of nothing.
22.
And Hedad
answered and said to him, All that thou shalt want
shall be supplied by me, but in the street thou shalt
not abide all night.
23.
And Hedad
brought him to his house, and he took off the mantle from the ass with the
cord, and brought them to his house, and he gave the ass straw and provender
whilst the traveler ate and drank in Hedad’s house,
and he abode there that night.
24.
And in the morning the traveler rose
up early to continue his journey, when Hedad said to
him, Wait, comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and the man
did so; and he remained with him, and they both ate and drank together during
the day, when the man rose up to go.
25.
And Hedad
said to him, Behold now the day is declining, thou hadst
better remain all night that thy heart may be comforted; and he pressed him so
that he tarried there all night, and on the second day he rose up early to go
away, when Hedad pressed him, saying, Comfort thy
heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and he remained and ate with him also
the second day, and then the man rose up to continue his journey.
26.
And Hedad
said to him, Behold now the day is declining, remain with me to comfort thy
heart and in the morning rise up early and go thy way.
27.
And the man would not remain, but
rose and saddled his ass, and whilst he was saddling his ass the wife of Hedad said to her husband, Behold this man has remained
with us for two days eating and drinking and he has given us nothing, and now
shall he go away from us without giving anything? and Hedad
said to her, Be silent.
28.
And the man saddled his ass to go,
and he asked Hedad to give him the cord and mantle to
tie it upon the ass.
29.
And Hedad
said to him, What sayest thou? And he said to him,
That thou my lord shalt give me the cord and the
mantle made with divers colors which thou didst conceal with thee in thy house
to take care of it.
30.
And Hedad
answered the man, saying, This is the interpretation of thy dream, the cord
which thou didst see, means that thy life will be lengthened out like a cord,
and having seen the mantle colored with all sorts of colors, means that thou shalt have a vineyard in which thou wilt plant trees of all
fruits.
31.
And the traveler answered, saying,
Not so my lord, for I was awake when I gave thee the cord and also a mantle
woven with different colors, which thou didst take off the ass to put them by
for me; and Hedad answered and said, Surely I have
told thee the interpretation of thy dream and it is a good dream, and this is
the interpretation thereof.
32.
Now the sons of men give me four
pieces of silver, which is my charge for interpreting dreams, and of thee only
I require three pieces of silver.
33.
And the man was provoked at the words
of Hedad, and he cried bitterly, and he brought Hedad to Serak judge of
34.
And the man laid his cause before Serak the judge, when Hedad
replied, saying, It is not so, but thus the matter stands; and the judge said
to the traveler, This man Hedad telleth
thee truth, for he is famed in the cities for the accurate interpretation of
dreams.
35.
And the man cried at the word of the
judge, and he said, Not so my Lord, for it was in the day that I gave him the
cord and mantle which was upon the ass, in order to put them by in his house;
and they both disputed before the judge, the one saying, Thus the matter was,
and the other declaring otherwise.
36.
And Hedad
said to the man, Give me four pieces of silver that I charge for my
interpretations of dreams; I will not make any allowance; and give me the
expense of the four meals that thou didst eat in my house.
37.
And the man said to Hedad, Truly I will pay thee for what I ate in thy house,
only give me the cord and mantle which thou didst conceal in thy house.
38.
And Hedad
replied before the judge and said to the man, Did I not tell thee the
interpretation of thy dream? the cord means that thy days shall be prolonged
like a cord, and the mantle, that thou wilt have a vineyard in which thou wilt
plant all kinds of fruit trees.
39.
This is the proper interpretation of
thy dream, now give me the four pieces of silver that I require as a
compensation, for I will make thee no allowance.
40.
And the man cried at the words of Hedad and they both quarreled before the judge, and the
judge gave orders to his servants, who drove them rashly from the house.
41.
And they went away quarreling from
the judge, when the people of
and they gathered about them and they exclaimed against the stranger, and they
drove him rashly from the city.
42.
And the man continued his journey
upon his ass with bitterness of soul, lamenting and weeping.
43.
And whilst he was going along he wept
at what had happened to him in the corrupt city of
