Genesis 17
17
Abram and Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant
1When#Literally “And it happened that” Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai;#Often translated, “God Almighty” walk before me and be blameless 2so that#Or “and” I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you exceedingly.”#Literally “with very very” 3Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying, 4“As for me, behold, my covenant shall be with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6And I will make you exceedingly#Literally “with very very” fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land in which you are living as an alien,#Literally “a land of your sojournings” all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God.”
9And God said to Abraham, “Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also with#Or “between” your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12And at eight days of age#Literally “a son of eight days” you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner#Literally “those born of house and acquisition of money from every son of a foreigner” who is not from your offspring. 13You must certainly circumcise#Literally “circumcising you will circumcise” the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner.#Literally “those born of house and acquisition of money from every son of a foreigner” And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his#Literally “her”; the reference is still to a male; the pronoun is feminine because “person” (nephesh) is grammatically feminine people. He has broken my covenant. 15And God said to Abraham, “as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name. 16And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations.#Literally “she shall become to nations” Kings of peoples shall come#Or “be” from her.” 17And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old,#Literally “to a man one hundred years old can he be born?” or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?”#Literally “can ninety-year-old Sarah bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19And God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly.#Literally “with very very” He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year.” 22When#Or “And” he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all those acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner,#Literally “born of house and acquisition of money from the son of a foreigner” were circumcised with him.
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Genesis 17
17
Circumcision—Proof of the Agreement
1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am God All-Powerful.#17:1 God All-Powerful Literally, “El Shaddai.” Obey me and live the right way. 2If you do this, I will prepare an agreement between us. I will promise to make your people a great nation.”
3Then Abram bowed down before God. God said to him, 4“This is my part of our agreement: I will make you the father of many nations. 5I will change your name from Abram#17:5 Abram This name means “honored father.” to Abraham,#17:5 Abraham This name means “great father” or “father of many.” because I am making you the father of many nations. 6I will give you many descendants. New nations and kings will come from you. 7And I will prepare an agreement between me and you. This agreement will also be for all your descendants. It will continue forever. I will be your God and the God of all your descendants. 8And I will give this land to you and to all your descendants. I will give you the land you are traveling through—the land of Canaan. I will give you this land forever, and I will be your God.”
9Then God said to Abraham, “Now, this is your part of the agreement: You and all your descendants will obey my agreement. 10This is my agreement that all of you must obey. This is the agreement between me and you and all your descendants. Every male must be circumcised. 11You will cut the skin to show that you follow the agreement between me and you. 12When the baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. Every boy born among your people and every boy who is a slave of your people must be circumcised. 13So every baby boy in your nation will be circumcised. Every boy who is born from your family or bought as a slave will be circumcised. 14Abraham, this is the agreement between you and me: Any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his people#17:14 cut off from his people This means he must be separated from his family and lose his share of the inheritance. because he has broken my agreement.”
Isaac—the Promised Son
15God said to Abraham, “I will give Sarai,#17:15 Sarai A name, probably Aramaic, meaning “princess.” your wife, a new name. Her new name will be Sarah.#17:15 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 new nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”
17Abraham bowed his face to the ground to show he respected God. But he laughed and said to himself, “I am 100 years old. I cannot have a son, and Sarah is 90 years old. She cannot have a child.”
18Then Abraham said to God, “I hope Ishmael will live and serve you.”
19God said, “No, I said that your wife Sarah will have a son. You will name him Isaac.#17:19 Isaac This name means “he laughs” or “he is happy.” I will make my agreement with him that will continue forever with all his descendants.
20“You mentioned Ishmael, and I heard you. I will bless him, and he will have many children. He will be the father of twelve great leaders. His family will become a great nation. 21But I will make my agreement with Isaac, the son who Sarah will have. He will be born at this same time next year.”
22After God finished talking with Abraham, God went up into heaven. 23Then Abraham gathered together Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house. He also gathered all the slaves he had bought. Every man and boy in Abraham’s house was gathered together, and they were all circumcised. Abraham circumcised them that day, just as 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 the same day. 27Also, on that day all the men in Abraham’s house were circumcised. All the slaves born in his house and all the slaves he had bought were circumcised.
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