17When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk with me and live without any blame. ²I will now put into practice my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase your numbers.”

³Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, ⁴“As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations.

⁵“You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶I will give you many children. Nations will come from you. And kings will come from you.

⁷“I will make my covenant with you. It will last forever. It will be between me and you and your children after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all of your family after you.

⁸“You are now living in Canaan as an outsider. But I will give you the whole land of Canaan. You will own it forever. So will your children after you. And I will be their God.”

⁹Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant. You and your children after you for all time to come must keep it.

¹⁰“Here is my covenant that you and your children after you must keep. Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹You must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²It must be done for all time to come.

“Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. That includes those who are born in your house. It also includes those who are bought with money from a stranger. Even those who are not your own children must be included. ¹³Any male who is born in your house or bought with your money must be circumcised.

“My covenant will last forever. Your body will have the mark of my covenant on it.

¹⁴“Any male who has not been circumcised will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai anymore. Her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man who is 100 years old? Will Sarah have a child at the age of 90?”

¹⁸Abraham said to God, “I wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”

¹⁹Then God said, “I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. It will be for Isaac and for his family after him.

²⁰“As for Ishmael, I have heard you. You can be sure that I will bless him. I will give him children. I will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation.

²¹“But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. By this time next year, Sarah will have a son by you.”

²²When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God left him.

²³On that very day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael. He also circumcised every male who was born in his house or bought with his money. He did exactly as God had told him. ²⁴Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵His son Ishmael was 13.

²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. ²⁷And every male in Abraham’s house was circumcised along with him. That included those who were born in his house or bought from a stranger.

Three Men Visit Abraham

18The Lord appeared to Abraham near the large trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent. It was the hottest time of the day.

²Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly left the entrance to his tent to meet them. He bowed low to the ground.

³He said, “My lord, if you are pleased with me, don’t pass me by. ⁴Let a little water be brought. All of you can wash your feet and rest under this tree.

⁵“Let me get you something to eat to give you strength. Then you can go on your way. I want to do this for you now that you have come to me.”

“All right,” they answered. “Go ahead and do it.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick!” he said. “Get about half a bushel of fine flour. Mix it and bake some bread.”

⁷Then he ran to the herd. He picked out a choice, tender calf. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸Then he brought some butter and milk and the calf that had been prepared. He served them to the three men.

While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

⁹“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“Over there, in the tent,” he said.

¹⁰Then the Lord said, “You can be sure that I will return to you about this time next year. Your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent behind him. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were already very old. Sarah was too old to have a baby. ¹²So she laughed to herself. She thought, “I’m worn out, and my husband is old. Can I really know the joy of having a baby?”

¹³Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Will I really have a baby, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too hard for me? I will return to you at the appointed time next year. Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵Sarah was afraid. So she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”

But the Lord said, “Yes, you did.”

Abraham Makes an Appeal for Sodom

¹⁶The men got up to leave. They looked down toward Sodom. Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸He will certainly become a great and powerful nation. All nations on earth will be blessed because of him.

¹⁹“I have chosen him. He must direct his children. He must see that the members of his family after him live the way I want them to. So he must direct them to do what is right and fair. Then I, the Lord, will do for Abraham what I have promised him.”

²⁰The Lord said, “The cries against Sodom and Gomorrah are very great. Their sin is so bad ²¹that I will go down and see for myself. I want to see if what they have done is as bad as the cries that have reached me. If it is not, then I will know.”

²²The men turned away. They went toward Sodom. But Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord.

²³Then Abraham came up to him. He said, “Will you sweep away godly people along with those who are evil? ²⁴What if there are 50 godly people in the city? Will you really sweep it away? Won’t you spare the place because of the 50 godly people in it?

²⁵“You would never kill godly people along with those who are evil, would you? You wouldn’t treat godly and evil people alike. You would never do anything like that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is right?”

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find 50 godly people in the city of Sodom, I will save it. I will spare the whole place because of them.”

²⁷Then Abraham spoke up again. He said, “I have been very bold to speak to the Lord. After all, I’m only dust and ashes. ²⁸What if the number of godly people is five less than 50? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?”

“If I find 45 there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹Once again Abraham spoke to him. He asked, “What if only 40 are found there?”

He said, “If there are 40, I will not do it.”

³⁰Then Abraham said, “Lord, don’t let your anger burn against me. Let me speak. What if only 30 can be found there?”

He answered, “If there are 30, I will not do it.”

³¹Abraham said, “I have been very bold to speak to the Lord. What if only 20 are found there?”

He said, “If there are 20, I will not destroy it.”

³²Then he said, “Lord, don’t let your anger burn against me. Let me speak just one more time. What if only ten are found there?”

He answered, “If there are ten, I will not destroy it.”

³³When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham returned home.

Read in Logos