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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Genesis 17
17
1When Abram was 99, the Lord appeared to him and told him, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and don't do wrong.#17:1. “Live in my presence and don't do wrong,” literally, “walk before me and be innocent.” 2I will make my agreement between me and you, and I will give you many, many descendants.”
3Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God told him, 4“Listen! This is the agreement I'm making with you. You will be the father of many nations, 5so your name won't be Abram any longer. Instead, your name will be Abraham#17:5. The name change is usually interpreted to be from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of many”). because I'm going to make you the father of many nations. 6I will make sure you have a large number of descendants. They will become many nations, and some of their kings will also come from your line. 7I promise to continue my agreement with you, and with your descendants who come after you, for generations to come. This is an eternal agreement. I will always be your God, and the God of your descendants. 8I will give you and your descendants the whole country of Canaan—where you've been living as a foreigner—as land to own forever, and I will be their God.”
9Then God told Abraham, “Your part is to keep my agreement—you and your descendants for generations to come. 10This is my agreement with you and your descendants who come after you, the agreement you are to keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to circumcise your foreskin, and this will be the sign of the agreement between me and you. 12From now and for all generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. This includes not only your sons but also those born in your household or bought from foreigners. 13You must circumcise those born in your household or bought from foreigners as a sign in your bodies of my eternal agreement. 14Any uncircumcised male who refuses circumcision will be excluded from his people because he has broken my agreement.”
15Then God told Abraham, “Now about Sarai your wife. Don't call her Sarai any longer. Instead, her name will be Sarah. 16I will bless her and I promise to give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will become the mother of nations, and kings will be among her descendants.”
17Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground. But inside he was laughing, asking himself, “How on earth could I have a son at the age of one hundred? How could Sarah have a child when she is ninety?”
18Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael always live under your blessing!”
19“No, it's your wife Sarah who is going to have a son for you!” God replied. “You are to call him Isaac.#17:19. Isaac means “he laughs.” I will keep my agreement with him and his descendants as an eternal agreement. 20Now about Ishmael. I heard what you said, and I will also bless him. I will make sure he has a great many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But it's with Isaac that I will keep my agreement, the son Sarah will give birth to about this time next year.” 22When God had finished speaking with Abraham he left him.
23That day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael as well as all those born in his household or purchased, in fact every male among the members of Abraham's household, just as God had told him. 24Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised, 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen. 26Both Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27All the males in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or purchased from foreigners, were circumcised with him.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com