Genesis 17
17
Proof of the Agreement
1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, “I am God All-Powerful. Obey me and do what is right. 2I will make an agreement between us. I will make you the ancestor of many people.”
3Then Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God said to him, 4“I am making my agreement with you: I will make you the father of many nations. 5I am changing your name from Abram# This name means “honored father.” to Abraham.# The end of the Hebrew word for “Abraham” sounds like the beginning of the Hebrew word for “many.” This is because I am making you a father of many nations. 6I will give you many descendants. New nations will be born from you. Kings will come from you. 7And I will make an agreement between me and you and all your descendants from now on: I will be your God and the God of all your descendants. 8You live in the land of Canaan now as a stranger. But I will give you and your descendants all this land forever. And I will be the God of your descendants.”
9Then God said to Abraham, “You and your descendants must keep this agreement from now on. 10This is my agreement with you and all your descendants: Every male among you must be circumcised. You must obey this agreement. 11Cut away the foreskin to show that you follow the agreement between me and you. 12From now on when a baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. This includes any boy born among your people or any who is your slave. (He would not be one of your descendants.) 13So circumcise every baby boy. Circumcise him whether he is born in your family or bought as a slave. Your bodies will be marked. This will show that you are part of my agreement that lasts forever. 14Any male who is not circumcised will be separated from his people. He has broken my agreement.”
Isaac—the Promised Son
15God said to Abraham, “I will change the name of Sarai,# An Aramaic name meaning “princess.” your wife. Her new name will be Sarah.# A Hebrew name meaning “princess.” 16I will bless her. I will give her a son, and you will be the father. She will be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”
17Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, “Can a man have a child when he is 100 years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is 90?” 18Then Abraham said to God, “Please let Ishmael be the son you promised.”
19God said, “No. Sarah your wife will have a son, and you will name him Isaac.# The Hebrew words for “he laughed” (vs. 17) and “Isaac” sound the same. I will make my agreement with him. It will be an agreement that continues forever with all his descendants.
20“You asked me about Ishmael, and I heard you. I will bless him. I will give him many descendants. And I will cause their numbers to grow very greatly. He will be the father of 12 great leaders. I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will make my agreement with Isaac. He is the son whom Sarah will have at this same time next year.” 22After God finished talking with Abraham, God rose and left him.
23Then Abraham gathered Ishmael and all the males born in his camp. He also gathered the slaves he had bought. So that day Abraham circumcised every man and boy in his camp. This was what God had told him to do. 24Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. 25And Ishmael, his son, was 13 years old when he was circumcised. 26Abraham and his son were circumcised on that same day. 27Also on that day all the men in Abraham’s camp were circumcised. This included all those born in his camp and all the slaves he had bought from other nations.
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Genesis 17
17
1When Abram was ninetie yeere olde and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. walke before me, and be thou vpright, 2And I will make my couenant betweene me and thee, and I will multiplie thee exceedingly. 3Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 4Beholde, I make my couenant with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations, 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shalbe Abraham: for a father of many nations haue I made thee. 6Also I will make thee exceeding fruitfull, and will make nations of thee: yea, Kings shall proceede of thee. 7Moreouer I wil establish my couenant betweene me and thee, and thy seede after thee in their generations, for an euerlasting couenant, to be God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee. 8And I will giue thee and thy seede after thee the land, wherein thou art a stranger, euen all the land of Canaan, for an euerlasting possession, and I will be their God. 9Againe God said vnto Abraham, Thou also shalt keepe my couenant, thou, and thy seede after thee in their generations. 10This is my couenant which ye shall keepe betweene me and you, and thy seede after thee, Let euery man childe among you be circumcised: 11That is, ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your flesh, and it shalbe a signe of the couenant betweene me and you. 12And euery man childe of eight dayes olde among you, shalbe circumcised in your generations, aswell he that is borne in thine house, as he that is bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seede. 13He that is borne in thine house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needes be circumcised: so my couenant shall be in your flesh for an euerlasting couenant. 14But the vncircumcised man childe, in whose flesh the foreskin is not circumcised, euen that person shall be cut off from his people, because he hath broken my couenant. 15Afterward God said vnto Abraham, Sarai thy wife shalt thou not call Sarai, but Sarah shalbe her name. 16And I will blesse her, and will also giue thee a sonne of her, yea, I will blesse her, and she shall be the mother of nations: Kings also of people shall come of her. 17Then Abraham fell vpon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a childe be borne vnto him, that is an hundreth yeere olde? and shall Sarah that is ninetie yeere olde beare? 18And Abraham saide vnto God, Oh, that Ishmael might liue in thy sight. 19Then God saide, Sarah thy wife shall beare thee a sonne in deede, and thou shalt call his name Izhak: and I will establish my couenant with him for an euerlasting couenant, and with his seede after him. 20And as concerning Ishmael, I haue heard thee: loe, I haue blessed him, and will make him fruitfull, and will multiplie him exceedingly: twelue princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of him. 21But my couenant will I establish with Izhak, which Sarah shall beare vnto thee, the next yeere at this season. 22And he left off talking with him, and God went vp from Abraham. 23Then Abraham tooke Ishmael his sonne and all that were borne in his house, and all that was bought with his money, that is, euery man childe among the men of Abrahams house, and he circumcised the foreskinne of their flesh in that selfe same day, as God had comaunded him. 24Abraham also himselfe was ninetie yeere olde and nine, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised. 25And Ishmael his sonne was thirteene yeere olde, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised. 26The selfe same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his sonne: 27And all the men of his house, both borne in his house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.
PUBLIC DOMAIN