Genesis 17

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.