Genesis 17:1-18:15

New American Standard Bible

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.

²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all the slaves who were ^(AH)born 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 on this very same day, ^(AI)as God had said to him. ²⁴ Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when ^(AJ)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And his son ^(AK)Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ On this very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. ²⁷ And all the men of his household, those who were ^(AL)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now ^(AM)the Lord appeared to ^[q]Abraham by the ^[r](AN)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 ^(AO)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, “^[s]My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not ^[t]pass Your servant by. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and ^(AP)wash ^[u]your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; ⁵ and I will ^[v](AQ)bring a piece of bread, so that you may ^[w]refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have ^[x]visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “^[y]Quickly, prepare three ^[z]measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and ^[aa]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 ^[ab]as they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “^(AR)I will certainly return to you ^[ac]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 ^(AS)Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was ^(AT)past ^[ad]childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed ^[ae]to herself, saying, “^(AU)After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my ^(AV)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 (AW)Is anything too ^[af]difficult for the Lord? At the ^(AX)appointed time I will return to you, ^[ag]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.”