The Sign of the Covenant^(A)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ^(B)appeared to Abram and said to him, ^(C)“I am ^[a]Almighty God; ^(D)walk before Me and be ^(E)blameless. ² And I will make My ^(F)covenant between Me and you, and ^(G)will multiply you exceedingly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be ^(H)a father of ^[b]many nations. ⁵ No longer shall ^(I)your name be called ^[c]Abram, but your name shall be ^[d]Abraham; ^(J)for I have made you a father of ^[e]many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make ^(K)nations of you, and ^(L)kings shall come from you. ⁷ And I will ^(M)establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, ^(N)to be God to you and ^(O)your descendants after you. ⁸ Also ^(P)I give to you and your descendants after you the land ^(Q)in^[f] which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(R)I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham: “As for you, ^(S)you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: ^(T)Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ¹¹ and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be ^(U)a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old among you ^(V)shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person ^(W)shall be cut 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 ^[g]Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ And I will bless her ^(X)and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother ^(Y)of nations; ^(Z)kings of peoples shall be from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face ^(AA)and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham ^(AB)said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said: “No, ^(AC)Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My ^(AD)covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and ^(AE)will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget ^(AF)twelve princes, ^(AG)and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But My ^(AH)covenant I will establish with Isaac, ^(AI)whom Sarah shall bear to you at this ^(AJ)set time next year.”

God’s Covenant with Abram^(A)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(B)in a vision, saying, ^(C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(D)shield, ^[a]your exceedingly ^(E)great reward.”

^2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(G)seeing I ^[b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(H)one^[c] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(J)count the ^(K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(L)“So shall your ^(M)descendants be.”

⁶ And he ^(N)believed in the Lord, and He ^(O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^(P)brought you out of ^(Q)Ur of the Chaldeans, ^(R)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, ^(S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and ^(T)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^(U)the birds in two. ¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(V)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly ^(W)that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and ^(X)they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve ^(Y)I will judge; afterward ^(Z)they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, ^(AA)you shall ^[d]go ^(AB)to your fathers in peace; ^(AC)you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But ^(AD)in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity ^(AE)of the Amorites ^(AF)is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^(AG)passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ On the same day the Lord ^(AH)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(AI)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You ^(A)swore by Your own self, and said to them, ^(B)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”