Chapter 15

Abram Promised a Son

1 After these things athe word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“bDo not fear, Abram,

I am ca shield to you;

1Your dreward shall be very great.”

2 Abram said, “O Lord 1God, what will You give me, since I 2am childless, and the 3heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “1Since You have given no 2offspring to me, 3one aborn in my house is my heir.”

4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; abut one who will come forth from your own 1body, he shall be your heir.”

5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and acount the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “bSo shall your 1descendants be.”

6 aThen he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of aUr of the Chaldeans, to bgive you this land to 1possess it.”

8 He said, “O Lord 1God, ahow may I know that I will 2possess it?”

9 So He said to him, “1Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10 Then he 1brought all these to Him and acut them 2in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he bdid not cut the birds.

11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 Now when the sun was going down, aa deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, 1terror and great darkness fell upon him.

13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ayour 1descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 2where bthey will be enslaved and oppressed cfour hundred years.

14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out awith 1many possessions.

15 “As for you, ayou shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

16 “Then in athe fourth generation they will return here, for bthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which apassed between these pieces.

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“aTo your 1descendants I have given this land,

From bthe river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 athe Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite

20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim

21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

Chapter 16

Sarai and Hagar

1 Now aSarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had ban Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. aPlease go in to my maid; perhaps I will 1obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 After Abram had 1lived aten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.

4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

5 And Sarai said to Abram, “aMay the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your 1arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her 2sight. bMay the Lord judge between 3you and me.”

6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your 1power; do to her what is good in your 2sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and ashe fled from her presence.

7 Now athe angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to bShur.

8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, awhere have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself 1to her authority.”

10 Moreover, the aangel of the Lord said to her, “bI will greatly multiply your 1descendants so that 2they will be too many to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name 1Ishmael,

Because athe Lord 2has given heed to your affliction.

12 “He will be a awild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will 1live 2bto the east of all his brothers.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “1You are 2a God who sees”; for she said, “aHave I even 3remained alive here after seeing Him?”

14 Therefore the well was called 1Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between aKadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

16 Abram was aeighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to 1him.

Chapter 17

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, athe Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am 1God bAlmighty;

Walk before Me, and be 2cblameless.

2 “I will 1establish My acovenant between Me and you,

And I will bmultiply you exceedingly.”

3 Abram afell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,

And you will be the father of a amultitude of nations.

5 “No longer shall your name be called 1Abram,

But ayour name shall be 2Abraham;

For bI will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 “I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and akings will come forth from you.

7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your 1descendants after you throughout their generations for an aeverlasting covenant, bto be God to you and cto your 1descendants after you.

8 “aI will give to you and to your 1descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and bI will be their God.”

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ayou shall keep My covenant, you and your 1descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 “aThis is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your 1descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 “And ayou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12 “And every male among you who is aeight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your 1descendants.

13 “A servant who is born in your house or awho is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be acut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but 1Sarah shall be her name.

16 “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you aa son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; bkings of peoples will 1come from her.”

17 Then Abraham afell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And bwill Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you aa son, and you shall call his name 1Isaac; and bI will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his 2descendants after him.

20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and awill make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. bHe shall 1become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a cgreat nation.

21 “But My covenant I will establish with aIsaac, whom bSarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

22 When He finished talking with him, aGod went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were aborn in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, bas God had said to him.

24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ahe was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And aIshmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26 In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27 All the men of his household, who were aborn in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.