DaySpring Hope & Encouragement Bible - Flipbook - Page 40
G enesis 17
22
“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude
of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be
Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham,* for you will be the father of
many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will
become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants* after you,
from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always
be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the
entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your
descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
4
The Mark of the Covenant
Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the
covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.
10 This is the cov
enant that you and your descendants must keep: Each
male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your
foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation
to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after
his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the
servants born in your household and the f oreign-born servants whom you
have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark
of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be
cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
9
Sarai Is Named Sarah
15 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will
no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah.* 16 And I will bless
her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will
become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her
descendants.”
17 Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in
disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And
how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” 18 So Abraham said
to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”
19 But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you.
You will name him Isaac,* and I will confirm my covenant with him and his
descendants as an everlasting covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I will bless him
also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will
make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac,
who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” 22 When God
had finished speaking, he left Abraham.
23 On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his
household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him. 24 Abra
ham was n
inety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and Ishmael, his
son, was thirteen. 26 Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised
7:5 Abram means “exalted father”; Abraham sounds like a Hebrew term that means “father of
1
many.”
17:7 Hebrew seed; also in 17:7b, 8, 9, 10, 19. 17:15 Sarai and Sarah both mean “princess”; the change in spelling may reflect the difference in dialect between Ur and Canaan.
17:19 Isaac means “he laughs.”
