Abram and Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant

17 Whena Abram was ⌊ninety-nine years old⌋b Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai;c walk before me and be blameless 2 so thatd I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you ⌊exceedingly⌋.”e 3 Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying, 4 “As for me, behold, my covenant shall be with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 And I will make you ⌊exceedingly⌋f fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you ⌊the land in which you are living as an alien⌋,g all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God.”

9 And God said to Abraham, “Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also withh your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 And ⌊at eight days of age⌋i you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and ⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner⌋j who is not from your offspring. 13 ⌊You must certainly circumcise⌋k ⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought with your money⌋.l And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from hism people. He has broken my covenant. 15 And God said to Abraham, “as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and ⌊she shall give rise to nations⌋.n Kings of peoples shall comeo from her.” 17 And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “⌊Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old⌋,p or ⌊can Sarah bear a child at ninety⌋?”q 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 And God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him ⌊exceedingly⌋.r He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year.” 22 Whens he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all those acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him. 24 Abraham was ⌊ninety-nine years old⌋t when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was ⌊thirteen years old⌋u when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27 And all the men of his house, ⌊those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner⌋,v were circumcised with him.

Yahweh Appears to Abraham as a Man

18 And Yahweh appeared to hima by the oaks of Mamre. And he was sitting in the doorway of the tent at the heat of the day. 2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing nearb him. And he saw them and ran from the doorway of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the ground. 3 And he said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest under the tree. 5 And let me bring a piece of bread, thenc refresh ⌊yourselves⌋.d Afterward you can pass on, ⌊once⌋e you have passed by with your servant.” Then they said, “Do so as you have said.” 6 Thenf Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and he said, “Quickly—make three seahs of fine flour for kneading and make bread cakes!” 7 And Abraham ran to the cattle and took a ⌊calf⌋,g tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he made haste to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set it before them. And he was standing by them under the tree whileh they ate. 9 And they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10 And hei said, “I will certainly return to you ⌊in the spring⌋,j and look, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the doorway of the tent, and which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, ⌊advanced in age⌋;k ⌊the way of women⌋l had ceased to be for Sarah. 12 Som Sarah laughed to herself saying, “After I am worn out and my husband is old, shall this pleasure be to me?” 13 Then Yahweh said to Abraham, “What is this that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Is it indeed true that I will bear a child, now that I have grown old?’ 14 Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you ⌊in the spring⌋n and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. Heo said, “No, but you did laugh.”

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down upon Sodom. And Abraham went with them ⌊to send them on their way⌋.p 17 Then Yahweh said, “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed on account of him. 19 For I have chosenq him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him.” 20 Then Yahweh said, “Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very ⌊serious⌋,r 21 I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress which has come to me? If not, I will know.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

22 And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham was still standing before Yahweh. 23 And Abraham drew near to Yahweh and said, “Will you also sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 If perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city, will you also sweep them away and not forgive the place on account of the fifty righteous in her midst? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to kill the righteous with the wicked, thats the righteous would be as the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?” 26 And Yahweh said, “If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, in the midst of the city, then I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I am dust and ashes. 28 Perhaps the fifty righteous are lacking five—will you destroy the whole city on account of the five?” And he answered, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 And ⌊once again he spoke⌋t to him and said, “What ifu forty are found there?” And he answered, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” 30 And he said, “Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. What ifv thirty be found there?” And he answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 And he said, “Please, now, I was bold to speak to my Lord. What ifw twenty be found there?” And he answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.” 32 And he said, “Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. What ifx ten are found there?” And he answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” 33 Then Yahweh left,y as he finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.