Genesis 15-17

GOD’S WORD Translation

The Lord’s Fourth Promise to Abram

15 Later the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said,

² Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, what will you give me? Since I’m going to die without children, Eliezer of Damascus will inherit my household. ³ You have given me no children, so this member of my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Suddenly, the Lord spoke his word to Abram again. He said, “This man will not be your heir. Your own son will be your heir.” ⁵ He took Abram outside and said, “Now look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He also said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶ Then Abram believed the Lord, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by the Lord. ⁷ Then the Lord said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land so that you will take possession of it.”

⁸ Abram asked, “Almighty Lord, how can I be certain that I will take possession of it?”

⁹ He answered Abram, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a mourning dove, and a pigeon.” ¹⁰ So Abram brought all these animals to him. He cut each of them in half and laid each half opposite the other. However, he did not cut the birds in half.

¹¹ When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep—a dreadful, deep darkness—came over Abram.

¹³ God said to Abram, “You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve, and after that they will come out with many possessions. ¹⁵ But you will die in peace and be buried at a very old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.”

¹⁷ The sun had gone down, and it was dark. Suddenly a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between the animal pieces. ¹⁸ At that time the Lord made a promise ^[b] to Abram. He said, “I will give this land to your descendants. This is the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. ¹⁹ It is the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Abram and Hagar

16 Sarai, Abram’s wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed with Sarai.

³ After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be disrespectful to Sarai, her owner.

⁵ So Sarai complained to Abram, “I’m being treated unfairly! And it’s your fault! I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s being disrespectful to me. May the Lord decide who is right—you or me.”

⁶ Abram answered Sarai, “Here, she’s your slave. Do what you like with her.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away.

⁷ The Messenger of the Lord found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She answered, “I’m running away from my owner Sarai.” ⁹ The Messenger of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority.” ¹⁰ The Messenger of the Lord also said to her, “I will give you many descendants. No one will be able to count them because there will be so many.” ¹¹ Then the Messenger of the Lord said to her,

¹³ Hagar named the Lord, who had been speaking to her, “You Are the God Who Watches Over Me.” She said, “This is the place where I watched ⌞the one⌟ who watches over me.” ¹⁴ This is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi [Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me]. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named him Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

The Lord’s Fifth Promise to Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity. ² I will give you my promise,^[c] and I will give you very many descendants.” ³ Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again God spoke to him, ⁴ “My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. ⁵ So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. ⁸ I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your God.”

⁹ God also said to Abraham, “You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. ¹⁰ This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. ¹¹ All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. ¹² For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you. ¹³ Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.”

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess]. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become ⌞a mother of⌟ nations, and kings will come from her.” ¹⁷ Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?” ¹⁸ Then Abraham said to God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”

¹⁹ God replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. ²⁰ I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will make my promise to Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this time next year.” ²² When God finished speaking with Abraham, he left him.

Abraham’s Household Circumcised

²³ So Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with money—every male in his household—and circumcised them that day, as God had told him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁶ That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his household, whether born in the household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.