Old Testament · Law

Genesis chapter 17

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am . Walk before me and be .I will establish my between me and you, and I will multiply you beyond anything you can imagine.”Abram , and spoke to him:“As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations.Your name will no longer be . Instead, your name will be , because I am making you the father of many nations.I will make you incredibly . Nations will come from you, and kings will descend from you.I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you, throughout every generation, as a — to be God to you and to your descendants after you.I will give to you and your descendants after you the land where you are now living as an — all the land of — as a permanent possession. And I will be their God.”Then Elohim said to Abraham, “As for you — you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, throughout every generation.This is my covenant that you must keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you must be .You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be the of the covenant between me and you.Throughout your generations, every male among you must be circumcised when he is — whether born in your household or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.Every male born in your household and every male bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant.Any uncircumcised male — one who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin — that person will be from his people. He has broken my covenant.”Then Elohim said to Abraham, “As for your wife — you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will be .I will give her my , and I will also give you a son through her. I will give her my favor so that nations will come from her — kings of peoples will descend from her.”Abraham fell facedown and . He thought to himself, “Can a hundred-year-old man really have a child? Can Sarah, at ninety, actually give birth?”Then Abraham said to Elohim, “If only could live !”But Elohim said, “No — Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him . I will establish my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his descendants after him.As for Ishmael, . I will give him my favor and make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will father , and I will make him into a great nation.But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”When he finished speaking with Abraham, Elohim .Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male born in his household and every male bought with his money — every male in Abraham’s household — and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin , just as Elohim had told him.Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.And his son Ishmael was when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.On that very same day, Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised together.And every male in his household — those born in the household and those bought with money from foreigners — were circumcised with him.