During the heat of the day, Abraham sat at the entrance of his tent near the oaks of Mamre. He looked up and saw three men standing nearby. Abraham ran to meet them, bowed, and urged them to stay while water was brought to wash their feet and they rested under the tree.
Abraham asked Sarah to make bread from fine flour. He selected a good calf for a servant to prepare and set curds, milk, and meat before the visitors. While they ate, Abraham stood beside them under the tree.
The visitors asked where Sarah was. When Abraham said she was inside the tent, one announced that he would return at the appointed time the next year and Sarah would have a son. Sarah listened from the tent entrance behind him.
Abraham and Sarah were already old, and Sarah was past the age of bearing children. She laughed inwardly at the thought of such pleasure when both she and her husband were old. God asked Abraham why Sarah had laughed and questioned whether she could really have a child.
Abraham’s modest invitation became an abundant meal. He hurried Sarah and a servant to prepare fine bread and a calf, then added curds and milk. He stood nearby while the visitors ate, attentive to guests who had arrived without warning.
The promise now named Sarah directly and gave an appointed time. She did not laugh aloud before the guests; she reacted inwardly to the condition of her own aged body and Abraham’s. God’s question did not deny their age. It located the possibility of the promised birth in God’s power rather than theirs.
God asked whether anything was too difficult for him. He repeated that at the appointed time the following year Sarah would have a son. Afraid, Sarah denied laughing. God answered that she had indeed laughed.