Genesis 17

The Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^a the Lord appeared to him^b and said, “I am God Almighty;^c walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^d Then I will make my covenant between me and you^e and will greatly increase your numbers.”^f

Abram fell facedown,^g and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you:^h You will be the father of many nations.ⁱ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham,^j for I have made you a father of many nations.^k I will make you very fruitful;^l I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.^m I will establish my covenant^no as an everlasting covenant^pq between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God^r and the God of your descendants after you.^s The whole land of Canaan,^t where you now reside as a foreigner,^u I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;^v and I will be their God.^w”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,^x you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.^y This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.^z You are to undergo circumcision,^a and it will be the sign of the covenant^b between me and you. For the generations to come^c every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,^d including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.^e My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.^f Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised^g in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;^h he has broken my covenant.ⁱ”

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

Abraham fell facedown;ⁿ he laughed^o and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?^p Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”^q And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael^r might live under your blessing!”^s

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,^t and you will call him Isaac.^u I will establish my covenant with him^v as an everlasting covenant^w for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.^x He will be the father of twelve rulers,^y and I will make him into a great nation.^z But my covenant^a I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you^b by this time next year.”^c When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.^d

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household^e or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.^f Abraham was ninety-nine years old^g when he was circumcised,^h and his son Ishmaelⁱ was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male in Abraham’s household^j, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.