Daily Mass Readings for April 04, 2026: Gospel — Mt 28,1-10

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. ³ God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! ⁴ God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ⁶ God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning, a second day. ⁹ God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.” It was so. 1 ⁰ God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good. 1 ¹ God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds and trees on the land bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.” It was so. 1 ² The land produced vegetation—plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 1 ³ There was evening, and there was morning, a third day. 1 ⁴ God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 1 ⁵ and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 1 ⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 1 ⁷ God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 1 ⁸ to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 1 ⁹ There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day. 2 ⁰ God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 2 ¹ God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. 2 ² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 2 ³ There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day. 2 ⁴ God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” It was so. 2 ⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 2 ⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 2 ⁷ God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 2 ⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” 2 ⁹ Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 3 ⁰ And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so. 3 ¹ God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. 2 :¹ The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. ² By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.

¹ Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. ² God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 9 :¹ Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ² Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. ³ You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. ⁴ “But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it. ⁵ For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative. ⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind. ⁷ “But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.” ⁸ God said to Noah and his sons, ⁹ “Look. I now confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you 1 ⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth. 1 ¹ I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” 1 ² And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 1 ³ I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 1 ⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 1 ⁵ then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things. 1 ⁶ When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.” 1 ⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.” 1 ⁸ The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 1 ⁹ These were the three sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 2 ⁰ Noah, a man of the soil, began to plant a vineyard. 2 ¹ When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 2 ² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside. 2 ³ Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness. 2 ⁴ When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 2 ⁵ So he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.” 2 ⁶ He also said, “Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 2 ⁷ May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth!” 2 ⁸ After the flood Noah lived 3 5 ⁰ years. 2 ⁹ The entire lifetime of Noah was 9 5 ⁰ years, and then he died. 1 0 :¹ This is the account of Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. ² The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Dodanim. ⁵ From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations. ⁶ The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 1 ⁰ The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. 1 ¹ From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 1 ² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 1 ³ Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 1 ⁴ Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorites. 1 ⁵ Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 1 ⁶ the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 1 ⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 1 ⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 1 ⁹ and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. 2 ⁰ These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations. 2 ¹ And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber. 2 ² The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 2 ³ The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 2 ⁴ Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. 2 ⁵ Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 2 ⁶ Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 2 ⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 2 ⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 2 ⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 3 ⁰ Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern hills. 3 ¹ These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations. 3 ² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood. 1 1 :¹ The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. ² When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.” ⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. ⁶ And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. ⁷ Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why its name was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. 1 ⁰ This is the account of Shem.Shem was 1 0 ⁰ years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 1 ¹ And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 5 0 ⁰ years and had other sons and daughters. 1 ² When Arphaxad had lived 3 ⁵ years, he became the father of Shelah. 1 ³ And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 4 0 ³ years and had other sons and daughters. 1 ⁴ When Shelah had lived 3 ⁰ years, he became the father of Eber. 1 ⁵ And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 4 0 ³ years and had other sons and daughters. 1 ⁶ When Eber had lived 3 ⁴ years, he became the father of Peleg. 1 ⁷ And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 4 3 ⁰ years and had other sons and daughters. 1 ⁸ When Peleg had lived 3 ⁰ years, he became the father of Reu. 1 ⁹ And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 2 0 ⁹ years and had other sons and daughters. 2 ⁰ When Reu had lived 3 ² years, he became the father of Serug. 2 ¹ And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 2 0 ⁷ years and had other sons and daughters. 2 ² When Serug had lived 3 ⁰ years, he became the father of Nahor. 2 ³ And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 2 0 ⁰ years and had other sons and daughters. 2 ⁴ When Nahor had lived 2 ⁹ years, he became the father of Terah. 2 ⁵ And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 1 1 ⁹ years and had other sons and daughters. 2 ⁶ When Terah had lived 7 ⁰ years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 2 ⁷ This is the account of Terah.Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 2 ⁸ Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive. 2 ⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 3 ⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no children. 3 ¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 3 ² The lifetime of Terah was 2 0 ⁵ years, and he died in Haran. 1 2 :¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. ² Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.” ⁴ So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 7 ⁵ years old when he departed from Haran.) ⁵ And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ⁹ Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev. 1 ⁰ There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay for a while because the famine was severe. 1 ¹ As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman. 1 ² When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 1 ³ So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.” 1 ⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 1 ⁵ When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh, 1 ⁶ and he did treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 1 ⁷ But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 1 ⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 1 ⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 2 ⁰ Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions. 1 3 :¹ So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. ² (Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.) ³ And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. ⁴ This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ⁵ Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. ⁶ But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another. ⁷ So there were quarrels between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ⁸ Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.” 1 ⁰ Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well watered (this was before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar. 1 ¹ Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east. So the relatives separated from each other. 1 ² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 1 ³ (Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 1 ⁴ After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 1 ⁵ I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever. 1 ⁶ And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 1 ⁷ Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.” 1 ⁸ So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there. 1 5 :¹ After these things the Lord’s message came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ² But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Abram added, “Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” ⁴ But look, the Lord’s message came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵ The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.” ⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited it as righteousness to him. ⁷ The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” ⁸ But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?” ⁹ The Lord said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 1 ⁰ So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 1 ¹ When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 1 ² When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 1 ³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for 4 0 ⁰ years. 1 ⁴ But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 1 ⁵ But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 1 ⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 1 ⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. 1 ⁸ That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River— 1 ⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 2 ⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 2 ¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” 1 6 :¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from having children, please sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” Abram did what Sarai told him. ³ So after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! I gave my servant into your embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁶ Abram said to Sarai, “Since your servant is under your authority, do to her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly, so she ran away from Sarai. ⁷ The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the wilderness—the spring that is along the road to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai.” ⁹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. 1 ⁰ I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the angel of the Lord added, “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 1 ¹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 1 ² He will be a wild donkey of a man. He will be hostile to everyone, and everyone will be hostile to him. He will live away from his brothers.” 1 ³ So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 1 ⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.) 1 ⁵ So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 1 ⁶ (Now Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 1 7 :¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless. ² Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ³ Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁷ I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land where you are now residing—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.” ⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 1 ⁰ This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 1 ¹ You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you. 1 ² Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 1 ³ They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder. 1 ⁴ Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people—he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 1 ⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name. 1 ⁶ I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!” 1 ⁷ Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 1 ⁸ Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you!” 1 ⁹ God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him. 2 ⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation. 2 ¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 2 ² When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 2 ³ Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 2 ⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised; 2 ⁵ his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 2 ⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 2 ⁷ All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. 1 8 :¹ The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. ³ He said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree. ⁵ And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. ⁸ Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree. ⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, in the tent.” 1 ⁰ One of them said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 1 ¹ Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 1 ² So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?” 1 ³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’ 1 ⁴ Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 1 ⁵ Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” 1 ⁶ When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom. (Now Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 1 ⁷ Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 1 ⁸ After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth may receive blessing through him. 1 ⁹ I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him.” 2 ⁰ So the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 2 ¹ that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.” 2 ² The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 2 ³ Abraham approached and said, “Will you really sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 2 ⁴ What if there are 5 ⁰ godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the 5 ⁰ godly people who are in it? 2 ⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?” 2 ⁶ So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom 5 ⁰ godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 2 ⁷ Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord (although I am but dust and ashes), 2 ⁸ what if there are five less than the 5 ⁰ godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 4 ⁵ there.” 2 ⁹ Abraham spoke to him again, “What if 4 ⁰ are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the 4 0 .” 3 ⁰ Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if 3 ⁰ are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find 3 ⁰ there.” 3 ¹ Abraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only 2 ⁰ are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 2 0 .” 3 ² Finally Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if 1 ⁰ are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 1 0 .” 3 ³ The Lord went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.