Genesis 17–18

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;¹ walk before me, and be ⁿblameless, ²that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^omay multiply you greatly.” ³Then Abram ^pfell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^qthe father of a multitude of nations. ⁵No longer shall your name be called Abram,² but ^ryour name shall be Abraham,^{3 s}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^tyou into nations, and ^ukings shall come from you. ⁷And I will ^vestablish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^wto be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸And ^xI will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^yI will be their God.”

⁹And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a ^zsign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²He who is ^aeight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^bbought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Isaac’s Birth Promised

¹⁵And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah⁴ shall be her name. ¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^cgive⁵ you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^dshe shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷Then Abraham ^efell on his face ^fand laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” ¹⁹God said, “No, but ^gSarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name ^hIsaac.⁶ I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and ⁱmultiply him greatly. He ^jshall father twelve princes, and ^kI will make him into a great nation. ²¹But ^lI will establish my covenant with Isaac, ^mwhom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

²²When he had finished talking with him, ⁿGod went up from Abraham. ²³Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

18And the Lord appeared to him by the ^ooaks¹ of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. ²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. ^pWhen he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth ³and said, “O Lord,² if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Let a ^qlittle water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, ⁵while I bring a morsel of bread, that ^ryou may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—^ssince you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs³ of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. ⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is ^tin the tent.” ¹⁰The Lord said, “I will surely return to you ^uabout this time next year, and ^vSarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹Now ^wAbraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ^12xSo Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ^y“After I am worn out, and ^zmy lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ^14aIs anything too hard⁴ for the Lord? ^bAt the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵But Sarah denied it,⁵ saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷The Lord said, ^c“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^dblessed in him? ¹⁹For I have ^echosen⁶ him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” ²⁰Then the Lord said, “Because ^fthe outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, ^21gI will go down to see whether they have done altogether⁷ according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, ^hI will know.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

²²ⁱSo the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham ^jstill stood before the Lord. ²³Then Abraham drew near and said, ^k“Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, ^lso that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! ^mShall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶And the Lord said, ⁿ“If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Abraham answered and said, ^o“Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³²Then he said, ^p“Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.