Genesis 15–17

15TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s Fourth Promise to Abram

¹Later the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said, 

“Abram, don’t be afraid. 

I am your shield. 

Your reward will be very great.”^a

²Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, what will you give me? Since I’m going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inheritmy household. ³You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.” 

⁴Suddenly, the Lord spoke his word to Abram again. He said, “This man will not be your heir. Your own son will be your heir.” ⁵He took Abram outside and said, “Now look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He also said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶Then Abram believed the Lord, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by the Lord. ⁷Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land so that you will take possession of it.” 

⁸Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?” 

⁹He answered Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon.” ¹⁰So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half. 

¹¹When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹²As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep—a dreadful, deep darkness—came over Abram. 

¹³God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. ¹⁴But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions. ¹⁵But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.” 

¹⁷The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces. ¹⁸At that time the Lord made a promise^cto Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. ¹⁹It is the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” 

16TH CHAPTER

Abram and Hagar

¹Sarai, Abram’s wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ²So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed with Sarai. 

³After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be disrespectful to Sarai, her owner. 

⁵So Sarai complained to Abram, “I’m being treated unfairly! And it’s your fault! I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s being disrespectful to me. May the Lord decide who is right—you or me.” 

⁶Abram answered Sarai, “Here, she’s your slave. Do what you like with her.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away. 

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

She answered, “I’m running away from my owner Sarai.” ⁹The Messenger of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority.” ¹⁰The Messenger of the Lord also said to her, “I will give you many descendants. No one will be able to count them because there will be so many.” ¹¹Then the Messenger of the Lord said to her, 

“You are pregnant, 

and you will give birth to a son. 

You will name him Ishmael ^[God Hears^[, 

because the Lord has heard your cry of distress. 

¹²He will be as free and wild as an untamed donkey. 

He will fight with everyone, and everyone will fight with him. 

He will have conflicts with all his relatives.” 

¹³Hagar named the Lord, who had been speaking to her, “You Are the God Who Watches Over Me.” She said, “This is the place where I watched ⸤the one⸥ who watches over me.” ¹⁴This is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi ^[Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me^[. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered. 

¹⁵Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named him Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. 

17TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s Fifth Promise to Abraham

¹When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity. ²I will give you my promise,^aand I will give you very many descendants.” ³Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again God spoke to him, ⁴“My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. ⁵So your name will no longer be Abram ^[Exalted Father^[, but Abraham ^[Father of Many^[ because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. ⁷I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. ⁸I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your God.” 

⁹God also said to Abraham, “You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. ¹⁰This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. ¹¹All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. ¹²For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you. ¹³Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. ¹⁴Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.” 

¹⁵God said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah ^[Princess^[. ¹⁶I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become ⸤a mother of⸥ nations, and kings will come from her.” ¹⁷Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?” ¹⁸Then Abraham said to God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?” 

¹⁹God replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac ^[He Laughs^[. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. ²⁰I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But I will make my promise to Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this time next year.” ²²When God finished speaking with Abraham, he left him. 

Abraham’s Household Circumcised

²³So Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with money—every male in his household—and circumcised them that day, as God had told him. ²⁴Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁶That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷All the men of his household, whether born in the household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.