Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(A)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(F)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(J)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[f]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(K)everlasting covenant, ^(L)to be God to you and ^(M)to your ^[g]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(N)I will give to you and to your ^[h]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(O)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(P)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[i]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (Q)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[j]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(R)you 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 ^(S)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[k]descendants. ¹³ A slave who is born in your house or ^(T)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be ^(U)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her by the name ^[l]Sarai, but ^[m]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will give you ^(V)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; ^(W)kings of peoples will ^[n]come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(X)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? And ^(Y)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth to a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you ^(Z)a son, and you shall name him ^[o]Isaac; and ^(AA)I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his ^[p]descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and ^(AB)make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. ^(AC)He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a ^(AD)great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with ^(AE)Isaac, whom ^(AF)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” ²² When He finished talking with him, ^(AG)God went up from Abraham.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(A)the Lord appeared to ^[a]Abraham by the ^[b](B)oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three ^(C)men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, ³ and said, “^[c]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[d]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(D)wash ^[e]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[f](E)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[g]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[h]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[i]Quickly, prepare three ^[j]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[k]choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree ^[l]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(F)I will certainly return to you ^[m]at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now ^(G)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(H)past ^[n]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[o]to herself, saying, “^(I)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(J)lord being old also?” ¹³ But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’ ^14 (K)Is anything too ^[p]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(L)appointed time I will return to you, ^[q]at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵ Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Then ^(M)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ^17 (N)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(O)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[r]mighty nation, and in him ^(P)all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have ^[s](Q)chosen him, so that he may ^(R)command his children and his household after him to ^(S)keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham ^(T)what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “^(U)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will ^(V)go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

Abraham Appeals for Sodom

²² Then ^(W)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(X)the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached and said, “^(Y)Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not ^[t]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[u]such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not ^(Z)the Judge of all the earth ^[v]deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “^(AA)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will ^[w]spare the entire place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ^[x]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only ^(AB)dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have ^[y]ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” ³² Then he said, “^(AC)Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham ^(AD)the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

⁷ Did You not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land from Your people Israel, and ^(A)give it to the descendants of ^(B)Your friend Abraham forever?