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.
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Genesis 17: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Genesis 17
17
1 In truth, after he began to be ninety-nine years of age, the Lord appeared to him. And he said to him: "I am the Almighty God. Walk in my sight and become complete.
2 And I will set my covenant between me and you. And I will multiply you very exceedingly."
3 Abram fell prone on his face.
4 And God said to him: "I AM, and my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of many nations.
5 No longer will your name be called Abram. But you will be called Abraham, for I have established you as the father of many nations.
6 And I will cause you to increase very greatly, and I will set you among the nations, and kings will come forth from you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and with your offspring after you in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring, the land of your sojourn, all the land of Canaan, as an eternal possession, and I will be their God."
9 Again God said to Abraham: "And you therefore shall keep my covenant, and your offspring after you in their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which you shall observe, between me and you, and your offspring after you: All the males among you shall be circumcised.
11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, so that it may be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 An infant of eight days will be circumcised among you, every male in your generations. So also servants born to you, as well as those bought, shall be circumcised, even those who are not of your stock.
13 And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an eternal covenant.
14 The male, the flesh of whose foreskin will not be circumcised, that soul shall be eliminated from his people. For he has made my covenant void."
15 God said also to Abraham: "Your wife Sarai, you shall not call Sarai, but Sarah.
16 And I will bless her, and from her I will give you a son, whom I will bless, and he will be among the nations, and the kings of the peoples will rise from him."
17 Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed, saying in his heart: "Do you think a son can be born to a one hundred year old man? And will Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?"
18 And he said to God, "If only Ishmael would live in your sight."
19 And God said to Abraham: "Your wife Sarah shall give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant, and with his offspring after him.
20 Likewise, concerning Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless and enlarge him, and I will multiply him greatly. He will produce twelve leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 Yet in truth, I will establish my covenant with Isaac, to whom Sarah will give birth for you at this time next year."
22 And when he had finished speaking with him, God ascended from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all who were born in his house, and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin promptly, the very same day, just as God had instructed him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.
25 And his son Ishmael had completed thirteen years at the time of his circumcision.
26 On the very same day, Abraham was circumcised with his son Ishmael.
27 And all the men of his house, those born in his house, as well as those who were bought, even the foreigners, were circumcised with him.
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