1 Abraham, upon hearing of their plight, worried about Lot, his relative, and also felt compassion for the Sodomites, his neighbors and friends. He hastened to help, and on the fifth night attacked the Assyrians near Dan (the other spring of the Jordan). Striking before they armed themselves, he killed many in their beds, and others, drunk, fled. Abraham chased them for two days, herding them as a group to Hoba, near Damascus, proving that victory doesn’t hinge on numbers but on soldiers’ spirit and courage, for with a mere three hundred and eighteen servants plus three friends, he defeated a massive army. The rest retreated in humiliation. 2 After rescuing the Sodomite captives, including Lot, Abraham came home in peace. The king of Sodom met him in the King’s dale, where Melchizedek, king of Salem (meaning “righteous king,” an apt title, for he truly was righteous) and also priest of God, welcomed him and his men generously, providing abundant provisions.⁠a As they dined, he praised Abraham and blessed God for subduing his enemies beneath him. After Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils, Melchizedek gladly accepted. The king of Sodom requested that Abraham keep the loot but restore his citizens, and Abraham refused the reward, taking only what his men had already eaten, but still insisting his three friends—Eschol, Enner, and Mambre—take their rightful share. 3 God commended Abraham’s virtue, declaring he would not lose the good things he deserved for such great deeds. Abraham asked what use these blessings were without an heir, since he remained childless. God replied that He would bless him still more, granting him a son, whose descendants would be countless like the stars. Hearing that, Abraham made a sacrifice as God instructed: taking a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon, dividing the three older animals but not the birds. Then, before erecting his altar, as birds of prey swooped down for the carcasses, a divine voice said his descendants would be mistreated for four hundred years in Egypt but would overcome the Canaanites in war and inherit their lands. 4 Abraham lived near an oak named Ogyges in Canaan, not far from Hebron, but was troubled at Sarah’s barrenness. He pleaded with God for a male heir; God promised to give him children just as He had been providing for him since leading him from Mesopotamia. Sarah, following God’s will, presented Abraham with her Egyptian maidservant Hagar so she might bear children by her. But after becoming pregnant, the maidservant gloated and disrespected Sarah, imagining her son would succeed. Abraham surrendered her to Sarah’s discipline, and Hagar fled from harsh treatment. In her despair, she begged God for mercy. A divine angel found her in the wilderness and told her to return, promising that if she accepted this wise counsel, she would have a son who would one day rule the country. If she refused God and kept going, she would perish. Touched by this, Hagar went back, obtained forgiveness, and bore Ishmael, which means “Heard by God,” as God listened to her plea. 5 Ishmael was born to Abraham when he was eighty-six; and when Abraham was ninety-nine, God revealed Himself again, promising a son by Sarah and naming him Isaac, saying many nations and kings would come from him, possessing all of Canaan by war from Sidon to Egypt. He also commanded circumcision of their sons on the eighth day after birth, to keep Abraham’s family free of foreign entanglements. Abraham asked God about Ishmael, whether he might live; God promised Ishmael a long life and that he would become the father of many nations. Abraham then gratefully obeyed. He, all his household, and his son Ishmael were circumcised; Ishmael was thirteen that day, Abraham ninety-nine.