NLT One Year Bible - Flipbook - Page 28
J A N U A R Y
17:1When
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Abram was ninety-nine years
old, the Lord appeared to him and said,
“I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve
me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2I
will make a covenant with you, by which
I will guarantee to give you countless
descendants.”
3At this, Abram fell face down on the
ground. Then God said to him, 4“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. 6I 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. 8And 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.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the
covenant. You and all your descendants
have this continual responsibility. 10This
is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among
you must be circumcised. 11You must cut
off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of
the covenant between me and you.
12From 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 foreign-born servants
whom you have purchased. 13All must be
circumcised. Your bodies will bear the
mark of my everlasting covenant. 14Any
male who fails to be circumcised will be
cut off from the covenant family for
breaking the covenant.”
15 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will
no longer be Sarai. From now on
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her name will be Sarah.* 16And 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?” 18So 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. 20As 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. 21But 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. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years
old when he was circumcised, 25 and
Ishmael, his son, was thirteen. 26 Both
Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day, 27 along
with all the other men and boys of the
household, whether they were born
there or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him.
18:1The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to
Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at
the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2He looked up and
noticed three men standing nearby.
When he saw them, he ran to meet
