Genesis 17–18

The Covenant of Circumcision

17When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^t the Lord appeared to him^u and said, “I am God Almighty^a;^v walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^{w 2}Then I will make my covenant between me and you^x and will greatly increase your numbers.”^y

³Abram fell facedown,^z and God said to him, ⁴“As for me, this is my covenant with you:^a You will be the father of many nations.^{b 5}No longer will you be called Abram^b; your name will be Abraham,^cc for I have made you a father of many nations.^{d 6}I will make you very fruitful;^e I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^{f 7}I will establish my covenant^g as an everlasting covenant^h between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your Godⁱ and the God of your descendants after you.^{j 8}The whole land of Canaan,^k where you now reside as a foreigner,^l I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^m and I will be their God.ⁿ”

⁹Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,^o you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.^{p 10}This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.^{q 11}You are to undergo circumcision,^r and it will be the sign of the covenant^s between me and you. ¹²For the generations to come^t every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,^u including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.^v My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.^{w 14}Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised^x in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;^y he has broken my covenant.^z”

¹⁵God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai^a your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.^{b 16}I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.^c I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;^d kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Abraham fell facedown;^e he laughed^f and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^g Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^{h 18}And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmaelⁱ might live under your blessing!”^j

¹⁹Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^k and you will call him Isaac.^dl I will establish my covenant with him^m as an everlasting covenantⁿ for his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^o He will be the father of twelve rulers,^p and I will make him into a great nation.^{q 21}But my covenant^r I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^s by this time next year.”^{t 22}When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^u

²³On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^v or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^{w 24}Abraham was ninety-nine years old^x when he was circumcised,^{y 25}and his son Ishmael^z was thirteen; ²⁶Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ²⁷And every male in Abraham’s household^a, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

The Three Visitors

18The Lord appeared to Abraham^b near the great trees of Mamre^c while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent^d in the heat of the day. ²Abraham looked up^e and saw three men^f standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.^g

³He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,^h my lord,^a do not pass your servantⁱ by. ⁴Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet^j and rest under this tree. ⁵Let me get you something to eat,^k so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs^b of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”^l

⁷Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf^m and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸He then brought some curdsⁿ and milk^o and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.^p While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

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

“There, in the tent,^r” he said.

¹⁰Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,^s and Sarah your wife will have a son.”^t

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were already very old,^u and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.^{v 12}So Sarah laughed^w to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord^x is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

¹³Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’^{y 14}Is anything too hard for the Lord?^z I will return to you at the appointed time next year,^a and Sarah will have a son.”^b

¹⁵Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶When the men^c got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham^d what I am about to do?^{e 18}Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,^f and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^{c 19}For I have chosen him^g, so that he will direct his children^h and his household after him to keep the way of the Lordⁱ by doing what is right and just,^j so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”^k

²⁰Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom^l and Gomorrah is so great^m and their sin so grievous^{n 21}that I will go down^o and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

²²The men^p turned away and went toward Sodom,^q but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{dr 23}Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?^{s 24}What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^e the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?^{t 25}Far be it from you to do such a thing^u—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous^v and the wicked alike.^w Far be it from you! Will not the Judge^x of all the earth do right?”^y

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.^z”

²⁷Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,^{a 28}what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

³⁰Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,^b but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

³²Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.^c What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten,^d I will not destroy it.”

³³When the Lord had finished speaking^e with Abraham, he left,^f and Abraham returned home.^g