Genesis 17 (New American Standard)

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ¹the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am ^aGod ²Almighty ; Walk before Me, and be ^b3blameless. 2 "I will ^cestablish My ⁴covenant between Me and you, And I will ⁵multiply you exceedingly." 3 Abram ⁶fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a ⁷multitude of nations. 5 "No longer shall your name be called ^dAbram, But ⁸your name shall be ^eAbraham ; For ⁹I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 "I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ¹⁰kings will come forth from you. 7 "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^fdescendants after you throughout their generations for an ¹¹everlasting covenant, ¹²to be God to you and ¹³to your ^gdescendants after you. 8 "¹⁴I will give to you and to your ^hdescendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession ; and ¹⁵I will be their God." 9 God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, ¹⁶you shall keep My covenant, you and your ⁱdescendants after you throughout their generations. 10 "¹⁷This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^jdescendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 "And ¹⁸you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 "And every male among you who is ¹⁹eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner , who is not of your ^kdescendants. 13 "A servant who is born in your house or ²⁰who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised ; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 "But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ²¹cut off from his people ; he has broken My covenant." 15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but ^lSarah shall be her name. 16 "I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ²²a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations ; ²³kings of peoples will ^mcome from her." 17 Then Abraham ²⁴fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old ? And ²⁵will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!" 19 But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you ²⁶a son, and you shall call his name ⁿIsaac ; and ²⁷I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his ^odescendants after him. 20 "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ²⁸will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. ²⁹He shall ^pbecome the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a ³⁰great nation. 21 "But My covenant I will establish with ³¹Isaac, whom ³²Sarah will bear to you at this season next year." 22 When He finished talking with him, ³³God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were ³⁴born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, ³⁵as God had said to him. 24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ³⁶he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And ³⁷Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 All the men of his household, who were ³⁸born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner , were circumcised with him.