Genesis 17
17
God changes Abram's name to Abraham and promises him a son
1Abram was ninety-nine years old when 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:
4-5I promise that you will be the father of many nations. That's why I now change your name from Abram to Abraham.#17.4,5 Abraham: In Hebrew “Abraham” sounds like “father of many nations”.#Ro 4.17. 6I will give you a lot of descendants, and in the future they will become great nations. Some of them will even be kings.
7I will always keep the promise I have made to you and your descendants, because I am your God and their God.#Lk 1.55. 8I 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 for ever, and I will be their God.#Ac 7.5.
9Abraham, you and all future members of your family must promise to obey me. 10-11As the sign that you are keeping this promise, you must circumcise every man and boy in your family.#Ac 7.8; Ro 4.11. 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 for ever. 14Any man who isn't circumcised hasn't kept his promise to me and cannot be one of my people.
15Abraham, your wife's name will now 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 a hundred years old. How can I become a father? And Sarah is ninety. 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.
20I 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 for ever.
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 other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was ninety-nine years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was thirteen.
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Genesis 17: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
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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