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.