Genesis 17
17
Abraham to Father Many Nations
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty.#17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai Walk before Me and be blameless. 2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
3Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram,#17:5 Abram means exalted father. but your name will be Abraham,#17:5 Abraham means father of many. for I have made you a father of many nations.#17:5 Cited in Romans 4:17
6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
7I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
The Covenant of Circumcision
9God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you. 10This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 11You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring. 13Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.
14But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
15Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.#17:15 Both Sarai and Sarah mean princess; the change in spelling may reflect the difference in dialect between Ur and Canaan. 16And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”
19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac.#17:19 Isaac means he laughs. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
22When He had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
23On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
24So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.
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Genesis 17
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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