Genesis 17

The Sign of the Covenant

1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord #Gen. 12:7; 18:1appeared to Abram and said to him, #Gen. 28:3; 35:11; Ex. 6:3; Job 42:2“I am Almighty God; #2 Kin. 20:3walk before Me and be #Gen. 6:9; Deut. 18:13blameless. 2And I will make My #Gen. 15:18; Ex. 6:4; (Gal. 3:19)covenant between Me and you, and #Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 18:18will multiply you exceedingly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a #(Rom. 4:11, 12, 16)father of many nations. 5No longer shall #Neh. 9:7your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; #Rom. 4:17for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations #Gen. 17:16; 35:11of you, and #Matt. 1:6kings shall come from you. 7And I will #(Gal. 3:17)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, #Gen. 26:24; 28:13; Lev. 11:45; 26:12, 45; Heb. 11:16to be God to you and #Rom. 9:8; Gal. 3:16your descendants after you. 8Also #Gen. 12:7; 13:15, 17; Acts 7:5I give to you and your descendants after you the land #Gen. 23:4; 28:4in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and #Ex. 6:7; 29:45; Lev. 26:12; Deut. 29:13; Rev. 21:7I will be their God.”

9And God said to Abraham: “As for you, #Ex. 19:5you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: #John 7:22; Acts 7:8Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be #Ex. 12:13, 48; (Rom. 4:11)a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12He who is eight days old among you #Lev. 12:3shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person #Ex. 4:24–26shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, #Gen. 18:10and she shall be a mother #Gen. 35:11; Gal. 4:31; 1 Pet. 3:6of nations; #Gen. 17:6; 36:31; 1 Sam. 8:22kings of peoples shall be from her.”

17Then Abraham fell on his face #Gen. 17:3; 18:12; 21:6and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18And Abraham #Gen. 18:23said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

19Then God said: “No, #Gen. 18:10; 21:2; (Gal. 4:28)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My #Gen. 22:16; Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:34covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and #Gen. 16:10will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget #Gen. 25:12–16twelve princes, #Gen. 21:13, 18and I will make him a great nation. 21But My #Gen. 26:2–5covenant I will establish with Isaac, #Gen. 21:2whom Sarah shall bear to you at this #Gen. 18:14set time next year.” 22Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; 27and #Gen. 18:19all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

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Genesis 17

The Covenant of Circumcision

1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk faithfully with me. Live in a way that pleases me. 2I will now act on my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase the number of your children after you.”

3Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, 4“This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you. 7I will make my covenant with you last forever. It will be between me and you and your family after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all your family after you. 8You are now living in Canaan as an outsider. But I will give you the whole land of Canaan. You will own it forever and so will all your family after you. And I will be their God.”

9Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep my covenant. You and your family after you must keep it for all time to come. 10Here is my covenant that you and your family after you must keep. You and every male among you must be circumcised. 11That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12It must be done for all time to come. Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. That includes those who are born into your own family or outside it. It also includes those bought with money from a stranger. 13So any male born into your family or bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will last forever. Your body will have the mark of my covenant on it. 14Any male who has not been circumcised will be separated from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

15God also said to Abraham, “Do not continue to call your wife by the name Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. 16I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

17Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Can a 100-year-old man have a son? Can Sarah have a child at the age of 90?” 18Abraham said to God, “I really wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”

19Then God said, “Yes, I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. That covenant will last forever. It will be for Isaac and his family after him. 20I have heard what you said about Ishmael. I will surely bless him. I will make his family very large. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. By this time next year, Sarah will have a son by you.” 22When God had finished speaking with Abraham, God left him.

23On that same day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael. He also circumcised every male who was born into his family or bought with his money. He did exactly as God had told him. 24Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. 25His son Ishmael was 13. 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27And every male in Abraham’s household was circumcised along with him. That included those born into his family or bought from a stranger.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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