Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^[a] walk before me, and be ^(A)blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and ^(B)may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram ^(C)fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(D)the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,^[b] but ^(E)your name shall be Abraham,^{[c] (F)}for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make ^(G)you into nations, and ^(H)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(I)establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, ^(J)to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And ^(K)I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and ^(L)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a ^(M)sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² He who is ^(N)eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or ^(O)bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³ both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Isaac's Birth Promised

¹⁵ And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah^[d] shall be her name. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and moreover, I will ^(P)give^[e] you a son by her. I will bless her, and ^(Q)she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham ^(R)fell on his face ^(S)and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” ¹⁹ God said, “No, but ^(T)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name ^(U)Isaac.^[f] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and ^(V)multiply him greatly. He ^(W)shall father twelve princes, and ^(X)I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But ^(Y)I will establish my covenant with Isaac, ^(Z)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

²² When he had finished talking with him, ^(AA)God went up from Abraham. ²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Inheritance for Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans. ¹⁸ Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, ^(A)Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. ²² The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Asher

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches ^(B)Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷ then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to ^(C)Cabul, ²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as ^(D)Sidon the Great. ²⁹ Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,^[a] Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

^18 (A)In that day there will be ^(B)five cities in the land of Egypt that ^(C)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.^[a]

¹⁹ In that day there will be an ^(D)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(E)pillar to the Lord at its border. ^20 (F)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, ^(G)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. ^21 (H)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day ^(I)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. ^22 (J)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

^23 (K)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, ^(L)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, ^(M)a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵ whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt ^(N)my people, and Assyria ^(O)the work of my hands, and ^(P)Israel my inheritance.”

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that ^(Q)the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to ^(R)Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— ² at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking ^(S)naked and barefoot.

³ Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^(T)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,^{[b] 4} so shall the ^(U)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. ^5 (V)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. ⁶ And the inhabitants of ^(W)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and ^(X)to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^27 (A)And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, ^(B)Son of David.” ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ^29 (C)Then he touched their eyes, saying, ^(D)“According to your faith be it done to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ^(E)“See that no one knows about it.” ^31 (F)But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

³² As they were going away, behold, a ^(G)demon-oppressed man who was mute ^(H)was brought to him. ³³ And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds ^(I)marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now ^(A)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(B)Ethiopian, a ^(C)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(D)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(E)He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, ^(F)“How can I, unless someone ^(G)guides me?” And ^(H)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(K)beginning with this Scripture ^(L)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(M)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[b] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(N)the Spirit of the Lord ^(O)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.