Genesis 15–17

THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

15After these events, the word of the Lord came^a to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid,^b Abram.

I am your shield;^c

your reward will be very great.

²But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”^{A 3}Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in^B my house will be my heir.”

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body^C will be your heir.” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”^d

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^e

⁷He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”^f

⁸But he said, “Lord God, how can I know^g that I will possess it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So he brought all these to him, cut them in half, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds^h in half. ¹¹Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was setting, a deep sleepⁱ came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

¹³Then the Lord said to Abram,^j “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens^k for four hundred years^l in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.^{D 14}However, I will judge the nation they serve,^m and afterward they will go out with many possessions.^{n 15}But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{o 16}In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”^Ep

¹⁷When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring,^q from the Brook of Egypt^r to the great river, the Euphrates River: ¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰Hethites, Perizzites, Rephaim, ²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL

16Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ²Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.^{G 3}So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. ⁴He slept with^A Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. ⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering!^B I put my slave in your arms,^C and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”^s

⁶Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

⁷The angel of the Lord^t found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,^u and they will be too many to count.”

¹¹The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael,^D for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. ¹²This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”^a

¹³So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,”^E for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen^b the one who sees me?”^{F 14}That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.^G It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

COVENANT CIRCUMCISION

17When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty.^c Live^H in my presence and be blameless.^{d 2}I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”

³Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: ⁴“As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. ⁵Your name will no longer be Abram;^I your name will be Abraham,^J for I will make you the father of many nations.^{e 6}I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. ⁷I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant^f to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.^{g 8}And to you and your future offspring^Ah I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession,ⁱ and I will be their God.”

⁹God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. ¹⁰This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. ¹¹You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.^{j 12}Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised^k at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. ¹⁴If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah^C will be her name. ¹⁶I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.^l I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed^m and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” ¹⁸So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable^D to you!”

¹⁹But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.^E I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders,ⁿ and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”^{o 22}When he finished talking with him, God withdrew^F from Abraham.^p

²³So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, ²⁵and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. ²⁶On that very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷And all the men of his household—whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner—were circumcised with him.