Then God told Abraham that Sarai's name should be changed to Sarah because He was going to bless her and give him a son by her. Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live before You." God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; indeed, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this appointed time next year." When He had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin and Ishmael his son was thirteen years old.
The Lord appeared to Abraham again by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He saw three men standing opposite him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them. He bowed down to the earth, and said, "My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass on from your servant. Please let a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me fetch a morsel of bread, that you may sustain yourselves. After that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
And Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes." And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "There, in the tent." The Lord said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and then Sarah your wife shall have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent behind Him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah according to the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Then Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. The Lord said, "No, but you did laugh."
Then the men rose up from there, and they looked down upon Sodom; and Abraham went with them to send them away. The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will indeed become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken concerning him." Then the Lord said, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah, how great it is; and their sin, how very heavy it is! I shall go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know." So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
Then Abraham came near, and said, "Will You indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed destroy the place and not spare it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justly?" And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Abraham answered, "Now behold, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." And he spoke to him yet again, and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." He said, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "I will not destroy it because of twenty." Then he said, "Oh let the Lord not be angry if I speak once more. Suppose ten are found there." He said, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." And the Lord went away as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
What was the first reaction of both Abraham and Sarah to God's promise
that they would have a son?
Why was Abraham concerned about the Lord's intention to judge Sodom?
Verses in the Bible that refer to this story: Gen. 17:1 - 18:33; Rom. 4:9-22; Heb. 11:9-16; Jam. 2:23; 1 Pet. 3:5-6