The Bible: In the Beginning... Page #4

and strength.

God is my refuge and strength.

The plain is well-watered

everywhere...

...fertile with fruits of the earth...

...even as the Garden of the Lord.

That is the way I shall take.

And my way is another.

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...

...to thee will I give it

and to thy seed forever.

Lord God, what wilt thou give me,

seeing I go childless?

Behold, to me thou hast given no seed.

I will make thy seed

as the dust of the Earth...

...so that if one can number

the dust of the Earth...

...then shall thy seed

also be numbered.

But Sarai, my wife, is barren

and she has no child.

I am the Lord that brought thee...

...out of Ur of the Chaldees...

...to give thee this land

to inherit it.

Lord God...

...whereby shall I know

that I shall inherit it?

Take me a heifer

of three years old...

...and a she-goat of three years old

and a ram of three years old...

...and a turtledove

and a young pigeon.

Divide them in the midst...

...and lay each piece

one against another.

But the birds,

they shall not be divided.

Now have I made my covenant

between me and thee...

...and out of thine own bowels

thou shalt have an heir.

And Isaac shall his name be called.

Yet know of a surety that thy seed...

...shall be a stranger in a land

that is not theirs.

Its rulers shall afflict them...

...pangs and sorrows

shall take hold of them.

They shall be in pain

as a woman that travaileth.

They shall be tried,

like metal in a furnace...

...as also I shall try thee.

I will make a man more precious

than fine gold...

...even a man than

the golden wedge of Ophir.

Go.

Go.

Abram.

Behold now.

The Lord hath restrained me

from bearing.

I pray thee...

...go in unto my maid...

...according to that law which says:

"When a wife is barren...

...her maidservant may bear for her. "

It may be that I may obtain

children by her.

I give thee my handmaiden...

...Hagar the Egyptian...

...to be thy wife.

Is it so...

...that the promise of many nations

shall be fulfilled?

Even so....

And Abram went in to Hagar

and she conceived...

...and when it came near the time

that she should bear a child...

...Sarai, her mistress,

was despised in her eyes.

Are you not tired?

Let us stay our hands...

...and eat and drink,

now that the sun is gone.

Fruits of thy kind.

Figs that are dry,

and dates and raisins.

But for me...

...the fruits that ripen.

Go away from me!

Why weepest thou?

I am ashamed.

For what cause?

Did I not say to thee:

"Go in to my maid that I may

obtain children by her"?

Even so?

Now I am despised by her that

she carries the child in her body.

I am but the grass that is bruised

where she walks.

I look through her eyes and see myself

as one who no longer lives.

The fulfillment of the earth

passes to strangers.

And I am left as I was never born.

But the child is thine...

...by thy maidservant...

...and by the love I bear thee.

From the south,

even unto the plain of Jordan...

...came four warring kings:

The kings of Shinar,

of Ellasar...

...of Elam, and Tidal,

king of nations.

These made war with

the king of Sodom...

...and the king of Gomorrah

and the king of Admah...

...and the king of Zeboiim

and the king of Zoar.

Four kings with five.

They joined battle

in the vale of Siddim.

The vale of Siddim

was full of slime pits...

...and the kings of Sodom

and Gomorrah fled and fell there...

...and the victors took captives

and goods and went their way.

And Lot?

And Lot, my brother's son, Lot?

He is taken captive.

Shall the land that is promised to us

have no peace?

And my blood be taken into slavery?

- Eliezer.

- My lord?

Summon Mamre, the Amorite...

...and Aner and Eshcol, his brothers

who are confederates.

And you, my trained servants...

...born in mine own house...

...gather at the tents.

Three hundred eighteen we be.

How shall we prevail against so many?

They have gotten the victory,

and left off watching.

I will divide us

against them by night...

...and smite them.

Blessed be the most high God...

...which hath delivered mine enemies

into my hands.

Thou art my shield and

my exceeding great reward.

I am the Almighty God.

Walk before me and be thou perfect.

Thy name shall no more be Abram...

...but thy name shall be Abraham.

For kings shall come out of thee...

...and I will establish

my covenant between me and thee...

...and thy seed after thee, and their

generations, to be their God.

As for Sarai, thy wife,

thou shalt not call her name Sarai...

...but Sarah shall her name be.

And I will bless her and give thee

a son, also of her.

And she shall be a mother of nations.

Thy child.

By my maidservant, and

by the love I bear thee.

The smell of my son is like a field

which the Lord has blessed.

This is my covenant, which ye

shall keep between me and you...

...and thy seed after thee.

Every man-child among you

shall be circumcised...

...as a token of the covenant

betwixt me and you.

Thou hast 24 score and 7

in thy flock.

By each pebble I know you

as good servants.

You are blessed among us

and are indeed our blessing.

My lord.

Behold. Thy son, Ishmael,

hath seven years.

Give him thy blessing, I pray...

...that he may live before God as the

first of thy flesh, and thy only son.

Yet have I told thee how it stands

between me and Ishmael.

For God hath said He will bless

Sarah and give me a son also...

...of her.

Wilt thou indeed believe

what cannot come to pass?

The years have gone by and

the promise is not fulfilled.

With Sarah, thy wife...

...the time of childbearing is over.

Give Ishmael, therefore, thy blessing.

Thou can hope for no other.

Shall the Lord speak

and Abraham not believe?

What is faith if it say,

"This thing cannot be"?

And as for Ishmael...

...God has said "Behold...

...I have blessed him and will

make him fruitful.

But my covenant will I establish

with Isaac...

...which Sarah shall bear unto thee. "

And so I wait upon his will...

...even beyond the time.

And Abraham waited upon

the will of God.

And God was silent, as one who

searches the strength of a man.

Three years passed

and two more added...

...and Sarah and Abraham grew old.

My Lord...

...if now I have found favor

in thy sight...

...pass not away from thy servant.

We go down towards the city...

...toward Sodom...

...where Lot, thy brother's son,

sits in the gate of the city.

Rest yourselves, I pray thee...

...under the tree.

And comfort ye your hearts.

Where is Sarah, thy wife?

Behold, in the tent.

I will certainly

return unto thee, and lo...

...Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son.

After I am waxed old...

...shall I have pleasure...

...my Lord being old also?

Wherefore did Sarah laugh?

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I laughed not!

Nay...

...but thou didst laugh.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes