Genesis 17
17
1And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, ‘I [am] God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be thou perfect;
2and I give My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee very exceedingly.’
3And Abram falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying,
4‘I — lo, My covenant [is] with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations;
5and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee;
6and I have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee.
7‘And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee;
8and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.’
9And God saith unto Abraham, ‘And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations;
10this [is] My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to be circumcised;
11and ye have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you.
12‘And a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed;
13he is certainly circumcised who [is] born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during;
14and an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.’
15And God saith unto Abraham, ‘Sarai thy wife — thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] her name;
16and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations — kings of peoples are from her.’
17And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, ‘To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah — daughter of ninety years — bear?’
18And Abraham saith unto God, ‘O that Ishmael may live before Thee;’
19and God saith, ‘Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, to his seed after him.
20As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation;
21and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year;’
22and He finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham.
23And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money — every male among the men of Abraham's house — and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with him.
24And Abraham [is] a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;
25and Ishmael his son [is] a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;
26in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and Ishmael his son;
27and all the men of his house — born in the house, and bought with money from the son of a stranger — have been circumcised with him.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 17
17
God's Promise to Abraham
1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right, 2I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.” 3Abram bowed with his face to the ground, and God said:
4-5 #
Ro 4.17. I promise that you will be the father of many nations. So now I'm changing your name from Abram to Abraham.#17.4,5 Abraham: In Hebrew “Abraham” sounds like “father of many nations.” 6I will give you a lot of descendants, and they will become great nations. Some of them will even be kings.
7 #
Lk 1.55. I will always keep the promise I have made to you and your descendants, because I am your God and their God. 8#Ac 7.5. I will give you and them the land in which you are now a foreigner. I will give the whole land of Canaan to your family forever, and I will be their God.
9Abraham, you and all future members of your family must promise to obey me. 10-11#Ac 7.8; Ro 4.11. As the sign that you are keeping this promise, you must circumcise every man and boy in your family. 12-13From now on, your family must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old. You must even circumcise any man or boy you have as a slave, both those born in your homes and those you buy from foreigners. This will be a sign that my promise to you will last forever. 14Any man who isn't circumcised hasn't kept his part of the promise and cannot be one of my people.
15Abraham, from now on your wife's name will be Sarah instead of Sarai. 16I will bless her, and you will have a son by her. She will become the mother of nations, and some of her descendants will even be kings.
17Abraham bowed with his face to the ground and thought, “I am almost 100 years old. How can I become a father? And Sarah is 90. How can she have a child?” So he started laughing. 18Then he asked God, “Why not let Ishmael#17.18 Ishmael: Ishmael was the son of Sarah's slave Hagar (see 16.1-16). inherit what you have promised me?”
19But God answered:
No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac,#17.19 Isaac: In Hebrew “Isaac” sounds like “laugh.” and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.
20However, I have heard what you asked me to do for Ishmael, and so I will also bless him with many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make his family a great nation. 21But your son Isaac will be born about this time next year, and the promise I am making to you and your family will be for him and his descendants forever.
22God finished speaking to Abraham and then left.
23-27On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all the other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was 99 years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was 13.
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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