25. In another instance the Scripture reveals through Abraham that it was God Who spoke. He receives the further promise of a son, Isaac. Afterwards there appear to him three men. Abraham, though he sees three, worships One, and acknowledges Him as Lord. Three were standing before him, Scripture says, but he knew well Which it was that he must worship and confess. There was nothing in outward appearance to distinguish them, but by the eye of faith, the vision of the soul, he knew his Lord. Then the Scripture goes on, And He said unto him, I will certainly return unto thee at this time hereafter, and Sarah thy wife shall have a son199    Gen. xviii. 10.; and afterwards the Lord said to Him, I will not conceal from Abraham My servant the things that I will do200    Ib. 17.; and again, Moreover the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is filled up, and their sins are exceeding great201    Ib. 20.. Then after long discourse, which for the sake of brevity shall be omitted, Abraham, distressed at the destruction which awaited the innocent as well as the guilty, said, In no wise wilt Thou, Who judgest the earth, execute this judgment. And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes202    Ib. 25, 26.. Afterwards, when the warning to Lot, Abraham’s brother, was ended, the Scripture says, And the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven203    Ib. xix. 24.; and, after a while, And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and did unto Sarah as He had spoken, and Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him204    Ib. xxi. 1, 2.. And afterwards, when the handmaid with her son had been driven from Abraham’s house, and was dreading lest her child should die in the wilderness for want of water, the same Scripture says And the Lord God heard the voice of the lad, where he was, and the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What is it, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad from the place where he is. Arise, and take the lad and hold his hand, for I will make him a great nation205    Ib. 17, 18..

25. Referuntur et alia visa, dicta, gesta.---Scriptura et per Abraham, Deum esse qui loqueretur, ostendit. Abrahae quoque Isaac filius promittitur. Dehinc postea assistunt viri tres. Abraham conspectis tribus unum adorat, et Dominum confitetur. Scriptura adstitisse viros tres edidit: sed patriarcha non ignorat qui et adorandus sit et confitendus. Indiscreta assistentium species est; sed ille Dominum suum 0115B fidei oculis et visu mentis agnovit. Dehinc sequitur: Et 90 dixit ei, Revertens veniam ad te ad hoc tempus in futurum, et habebit filium Sara uxor tua (Gen. XVIII, 10). Et post haec dixit ei Dominus, Non celabo ego Abraham puerum meum quae facturus sum (Ibid., 17). Et rursum: Dixit autem Dominus, Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrhae impletus est, et peccata eorum magna valde (Ibid., 20). Et rursum post multum alium sermonem, quem brevitatis studio praetermittimus, cum de justis una cum injustis perdendis Abraham esset sollicitus, ait: Nequaquam, qui judicas terram, facies hoc judicium. Et dixit Dominus, Si invenero in Sodomis quinquaginta justos in civitate, remittam omni loco propter illos (Ib., 25, 26). Et rursum consummato sermone ad Lot fratrem Abrahae, 0115C Scriptura dicit, Et Dominus pluit super Sodomam et Gomorrham sulphur et ignem a Domino de coelo (Gen. XIX, 24). Et rursum: Et Dominus visitavit Saram, sicut dixit, et fecit Deus Sarae sicut locutus est, 0116A et concepit et peperit Sara Abrahae filium in senectute sua, et in tempore sicut locutus est illi Dominus (Gen. XXI, 1, 2). Dehinc expulsa de Abrahae domo cum filio suo ancilla, et in deserto ob aquae inopiam interitum pueri timente, eadem Scriptura ait, Et exaudivit Dominus Deus vocem pueri ubi erat, et vocavit angelus Dei Agar de coelo, et dixit ei, Quid est Agar? noli timere; exaudivit enim Deus vocem pueri de loco in quo est. Surge, et accipe puerum, et tene manum ejus; in gentem enim magnam faciam eum (Ibid., 17, 18).