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
B'resheet (Gen) 17
17
1When Avram was 99 years old Adonai appeared to Avram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai [God Almighty]. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted. 2I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will increase your numbers greatly.” 3Avram fell on his face, and God continued speaking with him: 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. 5Your name will no longer be Avram [exalted father], but your name will be Avraham [father of many], because I have made you the father of many nations. 6I will cause you to be very fruitful. I will make nations of you, kings will descend from you.
(vii) 7“I am establishing my covenant between me and you, along with your descendants after you, generation after generation, as an everlasting covenant, to be God for you and for your descendants after you. 8I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now foreigners, all the land of Kena‘an, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”
9God said to Avraham, “As for you, you are to keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation. 10Here is my covenant, which you are to keep, between me and you, along with your descendants after you: every male among you is to be circumcised. 11You are to be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; this will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12Generation after generation, every male among you who is eight days old is to be circumcised, including slaves born within your household and those bought from a foreigner not descended from you. 13The slave born in your house and the person bought with your money must be circumcised; thus my covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male who will not let himself be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin — that person will be cut off from his people, because he has broken my covenant.”
15God said to Avraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are not to call her Sarai [mockery]; her name is to be Sarah [princess]. 16I will bless her; moreover, I will give you a son by her. Truly I will bless her: she will be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17At this Avraham fell on his face and laughed — he thought to himself, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah give birth at ninety?” 18Avraham said to God, “If only Yishma‘el could live in your presence!” 19God answered, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you are to call him Yitz’chak [laughter]. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20But as for Yishma‘el, I have heard you. I have blessed him. I will make him fruitful and give him many descendants. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Yitz’chak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” 22With that, God finished speaking with Avraham and went up from him.
23Avraham took Yishma‘el his son, all the slaves born in his house and all who had been bought with his money, every male among the people in Avraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that very day, just as God had said to him.
(Maftir) 24Avraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, 25and Yishma‘el his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26Avraham and Yishma‘el his son were circumcised on the same day; 27and all the men in his household, both slaves born in his house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Haftarah Lekh L’kha: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 40:27–41:16
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Lekh L’kha: Acts 7:1–8; Romans 3:19–5:6; Galatians 3:15–18; 5:1–6; Colossians 2:11–15; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 7:1–19; 11:8–12
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible