Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis Reader

And He said, Bring Me oblations, and offer before Me an heifer of three years, and a goat of three years, a ram of three years, and a dove, and the young of a pigeon.

And he brought all these before Him, and divided them in the midst, and set in order every division over against its fellow; but the fowl he divided not.

And there came down idolatrous peoples which are like to unclean birds, to steal away the sacrifices of Israel; but the righteousness of Abram was a shield over them.

And when the sun was nearing to set, a deep sleep was thrown upon Abram: and, behold, four kingdoms arose to enslave his children: Terror, which is Bavel; Darkness, which is Madai; Greatness, which is Javan; Decline, which is Pheras, which is to fall, and to have no uplifting, and from whence it is to be that the children of Israel will come up.

And he said to Abram, Knowing, thou must know, that thy sons shall dwell in a land not their own, because thou hast not believed, and they will subjugate and afflict them four hundred years;

and also that the people whom they shall serve I will judge with two hundred and fifty plagues, and afterwards they shall go forth into liberty with great riches.

And when the sun had set there was darkness. And, behold, Abram saw Gehinnam ascending, smoke with flaming coals and burning flakes of fire, werewith the wicked are to be judged. And, behold, He passed between those divisions.

In that day the Lord ordained a covenant with Abram, that He would not judge therein his sons, but would deliver them from the kingdom, saying, To thy sons will I give this land, from Nilos of Mizraim unto the great river, the river Pherath,

And Sara said to Abram, Behold, now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing, go to my handmaid and set her free; perhaps I may be builded by her. And Abram hearkened to the word of Sara.

And Sara the wife of Abram took Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, when Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kenaan, and set her free, and gave her to Abram her husband to wife.

And Sara said to Abram, All my affliction is from thee. Being secure that thou wouldst do me justice, I left the land and house of my father, and came up with thee to a foreign land; and forasmuch as I was not able to become a mother, I set free my handmaid, and gave her to lie in thy bosom; and she seeth that she had conceived, and mine honour is despised before her. But now is my affliction manifest before the Lord, who will spread peace between me and thee, and the land shall be replenished from us, nor shall we need the help of the progeny of Hagar the daughter of Pharoh bar Nimrod, who threw thee into the furnace of fire.

And Abram said to Sara, Behold, thy handmaid is under thy authority: do to her what is right in thine eyes. And Sara afflicted her, and she escaped from before her.

And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou wilt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because thy affliction is revealed before the Lord.

And he shall be like the wild ass among men: his hands shall take vengeance of his adversaries, and the hands of his adversaries be put forth to do him evil; and in the presence of all his brethren shall he be commingled, (yitharbeb, Arabized,) and shall dwell.

And she gave thanks before the Lord whose Word spake to her, and thus said, Thou art He who livest and art eternal; who seest, but art not seen! for she said, For, behold, here is revealed the glory of the Shekina of the Lord after a vision.

And Abram was the son of ninety and nine years, and the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am El Shadai; serve before Me and be perfect (shelim) in thy flesh.

And thy name shall be no more called Abram, but Abraham shall be thy name, because to be the father of a great multitude of peoples have I appointed thee.

And I have established My covenant between My Word and thee, and thy sons after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee and to thy sons after thee.

And I will give to thee and to thy sons after thee the land of thy habitation, all the land of Kenaan, for an everlasting possession: and I will be to them Eloha.

This is My covenant, that you shall observe between My Word and you, and your sons after you:--Every male of you being circumcised, though he have not a father to circumcise him.

And the son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations; from him who is brought up in your house, or bought with your silver, unto every son of the peoples who is not of you.

He who is circumcised shall circumcise him who is brought up among you, or bought with your silver; and it shall be My covenant in your flesh for a covenant for ever.

And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, unless he have some one to circumcise him, that man shall be cut off from his people; he hath made My covenant to pass away.

And I will bless in her body, and will also give from her a son to thee, and I will bless, him, and he shall be for assemblies, and kings ruling over nations shall be from her.

And Abraham fell on his face, and wondered, and said in his heart, Shall the son of a hundred years have progeny, and Sarah, the daughter of ninety years, bear a child?

And the Lord said, In truth Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Izhak; and with him I will confirm My covenant for an everlasting covenant to his sons after him.

And concerning Ishmael I have heard thy prayer. Behold, I have blessed him; and I will spread him abroad, and multiply him very greatly. Twelve princes shall he beget, and I will give him to be a great people.

And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all brought up in his house, and all bought with money, every male among the household people of Abraham, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day in which the Lord spake with him.

AND the glory of the Lord was revealed to him in the valley of Mamre; and he, being ill from the pain of circumcision, sat at the door of the tabernacle in the fervour (or strength) of the day.

And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three angels in the resemblance of men were standing before him; (angels) who had been sent from the necessity of three things;--because it is not possible for a ministering angel to be sent for more than one purpose at a time;--one, then, had come to make known to him that Sarah should bear a man-child; one had come to deliver Lot; and one to overthrow Sedom and Amorah. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of the tent, and bowed himself on the earth.

And he said, I beseech, by the mercies (that are) before Thee, O Lord, if now I have found favour before Thee, that the glory of Thy Shekina may not now ascend from Thy servant, until I have set forth provisions

And I will bring food of bread, that you may strengthen your hearts, and give thanks in the Name of the Word of the Lord, and afterwards pass on. For therefore at the time of repast are you come, and have turned aside to your servant to take food. And they said, Thou hast spoken well; do according to thy word.

and he took rich cream and milk and the calf which the young man had made into prepared meats, and set them before them, according to the way and conduct (hilkath) of the creatures of the world; and he served before them, and they sat under the tree; and he quieted himself (to see) whether they would eat.

And one of them said, Returning I will return to thee in the coming year; and you shall be revived, and, behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah was hearkening at the door of the tent, and Ishmael stood behind her, and marked what the Angel said.

Is it possible to hide anything from before the Lord? At the gracious time I will return to thee, in the time when you shall be revived, and Sarah shall have a son.

And the angels, who had the likeness of men, arose from thence, and the one who had made known the tidings to Sarah ascended to the high heavens; and two of them looked toward Sedom; and Abraham went with them.

And the Lord said, with His Word, I cannot hide from Abraham that which I am about to do; and it is right that before I do it, I should make it known to him. For

Because his holiness (piety, chasidutha) is manifest before Me, (and) that he will instruct his sons, and the men of his house after him, to keep the ways that are right before the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him.

And the Lord said to the ministering angels, The cry of Sedom and Amorah, because they oppress the poor, and decree that whosoever giveth a morsel to the needy shall be burned with fire, is therefore great, and their guilt exceedingly weighty.

I will now appear, and see whether, as the cry of a damsel torn away, which ascendeth before Me, they have made completion of their sins; (or, whether they have made an end of their sins;) and if they have wrought repentance, shall they not be as (if) innocent before Me? and as if not knowing, I will not punish.